View Full Version : Need help!!
blindsider
11/09/2012, 10:44 AM
I have been running a nano reef, 20long sps dominant system. 2 koralia nanos pushing 450gph each and a mp10wes also running. filtration is current usa internal filter with rowaphos and carbon. Im having what i believe is a dino outbreak. it is getting pretty bad, all parameters are where they need to be except ph. it is always low no matter what i do, I began to dose with a product called balance to raise and maintain ph around 8.3 but i have to keep dosing to bring it up, then the next day it drops back down to 8.0 and below. my corals have been growing fine, now that the dinos are getting out of control it is starting to really bother my sps as there polyps wont even come out anymore, its been at least a week since ive seen any polyp extension, not even at night, but they seem to be hanging on but its starting to smoother em! how do i get rid of this algae?!
Allmost
11/09/2012, 10:46 AM
Hello,
1. stop dosing stuff to raise PH. PH follows KH and room CO2 concentration.
next, post what you test for, and the values you get.
how do you keep KH and CA++ stable ?
what is the po4 reading at and what do you test it with ?
do you siphon the sand ?
any carbon dosing ?
also no skimmer right ? how much water changes do you do ?
+1 on Allmost - stop trying to fix pH artificially. a low pH (assuming your probe is accurate) is indicative of water quality falling which is also likely the dino cause. dosing artificially will only conceal that. just focus on keeping KH/Alk consistent and it will drive your pH.
What is your KH at?
blindsider
11/09/2012, 12:08 PM
Hello,
1. stop dosing stuff to raise PH. PH follows KH and room CO2 concentration.
next, post what you test for, and the values you get.
how do you keep KH and CA++ stable ?
what is the po4 reading at and what do you test it with ?
do you siphon the sand ?
any carbon dosing ?
also no skimmer right ? how much water changes do you do ?
I dose manually with b ionic 2 part. alk is 9ppm and calcium is 440ppm
phosphates are at 0.08 with red sea test kit
I sometimes siphon the top layer of sand, used to do weekly water changes and everytime i tested my water i could not get any traces of nitrates and always very low phosphates in the aquarium, so im going on my first week without doing a water change, i know dinos are probably taking up everything they can before test kits can even pick anything up, i read somewhere on here that its possible dinos start dying off with a little bit of nitrates in the aquarium, i have tried lights off for 3 days one time and it got rid of them for maybe a week. My tank isnt covered with them yet, its just starting to bother my corals and i want to try and get it under control while its young. ill try and post some pics.
no skimmer, was reyling on weekly water changes and it was working pretty well. I run a small media bag of carbon and rowa.
blindsider
11/09/2012, 12:17 PM
this is as bad as its ever gotten, i have siphoned everything off of my coral, and try and keep my coral free of anything everyday, at first the dinos where alot darker in color and completely covered one rock and full of a bunch of small c02 bubbles, now there is almost never any bubbles and just super stringy, is it possible it is dying off? or do dinos typically look like this?
http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d94/CHAINA_/B0465C1E-393F-44F3-B955-0C8DBEB609AF-398-000000CA1D034262.jpg
http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d94/CHAINA_/BE50DEB2-31C7-4DF1-B057-A4CF65838306-398-000000CA048269B9.jpg
http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d94/CHAINA_/6AA842D7-EB45-433C-81C0-844D67567B1D-398-000000C9DB148D4A.jpg
blindsider
11/09/2012, 12:20 PM
those pics where while my pumps where turned off and i didnt have any more water to siphon anything out so i blew it all off of my corals and rock hoping they would fall into filtration, once i turned my vortech and koralias back on it has all been blown off of my corals, just wanted to show what it looks like at its worst.
gbru316
11/09/2012, 12:27 PM
Randy Holmes-Farley's take on dinos (http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-11/rhf/index.php)
When you say low ph, you mean below 7.8? Because 7.8 and above is ideal, as long as it's stable.
When do you test your ph? Ph tends to be low after extended periods of dark, so try testing at different times of the day.
blindsider
11/09/2012, 12:28 PM
http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d94/CHAINA_/15EDFBFC-9C2B-4FC7-9E55-F3917277F720-398-000000CF360EB8F9.jpg
http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d94/CHAINA_/4D052556-EFB3-4D99-A2EF-E1173B7700A8-398-000000CF1A9CA6F4.jpg
http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d94/CHAINA_/2C55B100-511D-4C69-B1E2-9192CC026A7E-398-000000CF08BEA56A.jpg
blindsider
11/09/2012, 12:30 PM
Randy Holmes-Farley's take on dinos (http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-11/rhf/index.php)
When you say low ph, you mean below 7.8? Because 7.8 and above is ideal, as long as it's stable.
When do you test your ph? Ph tends to be low after extended periods of dark, so try testing at different times of the day.
im sorry, it never goes below 7.8 its at a stead 7.8 at all times I apologize. ill check out the link thank you!
Allmost
11/09/2012, 12:32 PM
I see, its the po4 my friend. I would renew your po4 remover [rowaphos is good] or even run chemipure [good in case you dont have a skimmer so its fitting for your system]
I would also get back at the weekly water change and try to siphon out as much as possible.
lastly, start blasting your rocks with a small MJ power head, weekly, to release the trapped detritus.
meanwhile, its a good Idea to run more mechanical filters to remove all the dino that comes off and floats around.
HTH,
gbru316
11/09/2012, 12:35 PM
this might help too:
Advanced Aquarist (http://www.advancedaquarist.com/blog/how-i-beat-dinoflagellates-and-the-lessons-i-learned)
blindsider
11/09/2012, 12:46 PM
I see, its the po4 my friend. I would renew your po4 remover [rowaphos is good] or even run chemipure [good in case you dont have a skimmer so its fitting for your system]
I would also get back at the weekly water change and try to siphon out as much as possible.
lastly, start blasting your rocks with a small MJ power head, weekly, to release the trapped detritus.
meanwhile, its a good Idea to run more mechanical filters to remove all the dino that comes off and floats around.
HTH,
i will remove the old rowaphos and add some fresh rowaphos and see what it does. thanks for your help!
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