You might be getting it wrong, this is exactly why it took me so long to get rid of them. People kept telling me that the dinos were sucking nutrients so fast, while in reality they weren´t.
Think about it, I only had 5 small fish in a 175 gal, before the problem started nitrates and phosphates were always 0, and also during the problem, cuz I have a good skimmer, to a some point I did weekly water changes, etc. The water quality was always good, there was nothing they could feed on, basically they feed on light and trace elements in the salt, they are photosinthetic but they ain´t algae.
The momment I stopped doing water changes and bought a nitrate test kit is the momment when they started to die when the nitrates started to appear because of the lack of water changes.
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Originally posted by redfishsc
One of the biggest problems with dinos is, just like Plancton said, they will remove all your phosphate and nitrate, making it look like you have "perfect" water quality.
By skimming, you are competing with the lil brats, to some degree, for nutrients--- a very good thing. The skimmer also helps to drive off CO2 in the water, helping keep the pH high.
I am starting to wonder if there is something "seasonal" about dinoflagellates. Seems like all of a sudden there are piles of posts here and elsewhere about dinoflagellate blooms.
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