madjoe
Premium member
If i needed to i would but i dont need to tank running good all im saying if he did decide to he can go back to corals god forbid somebody goes afainst what u say .
DansReef New 180 Reef
- Thread starter DanSreef
- Start date
If i needed to i would but i dont need to tank running good all im saying if he did decide to he can go back to corals god forbid somebody goes afainst what u say .
maidia
Team CR
Yes Dan, Feaking Dino make me headache too. I turn off the light for 4 days and turn on the light all clean and clear then 3 days later it come back..Dammit.
DanSreef
Premium member
Tank looked great today....but I can still see a haze on the sand.... Translation....the little Fockers are still there. I will just plan to skim of a layer of sand tomorrow or the next day. Maybe...maybe this will allow the algae to take hold and outcompete these damn things. As for the fish...I think they are now expecting to gorge themselves everyday.... They are in for a rude surprise...
DanSreef
Premium member
So a quick update...and a few pictures. DINOs are still present in the sand. I have only siphoned the top layer of the sand once a week or so ago. That actually reduced the DINOs quite a bit. Today... I am seeing more colonies in the sand so may do it again later. My nitrates are around 2ppm and phosphates are .06.
I ordered some pods and macro from AquariumDepot.com. Not real impressed with them to be honest. They promised 2-day delivery and it was actually 4..... I also ordered some mushrooms and a pectina frag....all arrived DOA. But I did get a huge amount of large pods which I added to the tank and the fuge. I am hoping they are munching away on these DINOs...and the algae that is starting to grow. I am still keeping my fingers crossed that this "dirty" method works.
I also picked up a beautiful Pintail Flasher Wrasse from Reefwise. It spent the first 24 hours trying every possible perimeter gap... I literally watched for an hour as this $125 fish would skim across the water and bam...jump. Fortunately it hasn't found a way out...yet. I have most everything sealed up... He is real timid and so if I get close.....He has his rocks where he will go hide. But every once in a while he will come out and mix it up with the Anthias. I am not sure it is aggression but instead just something to go stir the pot up... It is a beautiful fish... I wish I was better at capturing pictures.
These guys are not shy....
I ordered some pods and macro from AquariumDepot.com. Not real impressed with them to be honest. They promised 2-day delivery and it was actually 4..... I also ordered some mushrooms and a pectina frag....all arrived DOA. But I did get a huge amount of large pods which I added to the tank and the fuge. I am hoping they are munching away on these DINOs...and the algae that is starting to grow. I am still keeping my fingers crossed that this "dirty" method works.
I also picked up a beautiful Pintail Flasher Wrasse from Reefwise. It spent the first 24 hours trying every possible perimeter gap... I literally watched for an hour as this $125 fish would skim across the water and bam...jump. Fortunately it hasn't found a way out...yet. I have most everything sealed up... He is real timid and so if I get close.....He has his rocks where he will go hide. But every once in a while he will come out and mix it up with the Anthias. I am not sure it is aggression but instead just something to go stir the pot up... It is a beautiful fish... I wish I was better at capturing pictures.
These guys are not shy....
DanSreef
Premium member
So...after my last post, I siphoned out another 5 gal bucket worth of water and sand from the tank...basically skimming the top layer where I could see a hue of rust / red in the sand. It has been 4 plus days and right now...no visible signs of DINOs in the sand or the rock. I am not getting ahead of myself too much....but...I am getting optimistic. I am also not seeing anything in sump... I have amphipods in the display and sump....and am hoping they are gorging themselves on the DINOs.
If things continue to go well...where there is no bloom of DINOs....I may introduce a couple of Coral cuttings from other tanks this weekend. I will start with some birds nests and montis I have an abundance of. Keeping my fingers crossed that....just maybe I can see some nice progress in this tank in 2016.
If things continue to go well...where there is no bloom of DINOs....I may introduce a couple of Coral cuttings from other tanks this weekend. I will start with some birds nests and montis I have an abundance of. Keeping my fingers crossed that....just maybe I can see some nice progress in this tank in 2016.
ColaAddict
New member
Bye Bye Dinos!
DanSreef
Premium member
Let's Hope. I want to focus on coral and fish......and not Dino Krap......
DanSreef
Premium member
A quick update... I did a survey of the tank over lunch and took samples from the sand and rock and reviewed them under a microscope....and much to my amazement I found no signs of DINOs. I found no traces of the variety that has been plaguing my system. Could they still be there....yeah. I am not quite ready to declare any victory over them. I am starting to see green forming on the rocks. I also found some reddish material that I took multiple samples of.....and these seem to be cyno. Under microscopic inspection they are multi celled and in strands. See picture.
Like I said, not ready to declare victory....but man...things seem to be going in the right direction.
I also did some testing of the water, salinity 1.025, PH 8.03-8.11, temp is 76.9-77.7, nitrates at 4.0 and phosphates .26. I will test Alk and CA tomorrow.
I made some frags of birds nest and a green slimmer and a couple of montis...from the other tanks and added them yesterday. Here is a picture. They had ok color and nice PE when I looked at them today.
Finally, I added a foursome of disbar Anthias from reefwise on Saturday. I am hoping to also get four Bartletts as well....which will take my Anthias school to 5 of each... I will then add some other variety. Anthias just seem to provide so much color and activity to the tank. Here is a picture of the new additions.
I almost bought a new Sargassum Trigger...but decided to hold off a bit. God willing the DINOs are behind me and I can concentrate on fish and corals... Would be such a relief......
More later.....
Like I said, not ready to declare victory....but man...things seem to be going in the right direction.
I also did some testing of the water, salinity 1.025, PH 8.03-8.11, temp is 76.9-77.7, nitrates at 4.0 and phosphates .26. I will test Alk and CA tomorrow.
I made some frags of birds nest and a green slimmer and a couple of montis...from the other tanks and added them yesterday. Here is a picture. They had ok color and nice PE when I looked at them today.
Finally, I added a foursome of disbar Anthias from reefwise on Saturday. I am hoping to also get four Bartletts as well....which will take my Anthias school to 5 of each... I will then add some other variety. Anthias just seem to provide so much color and activity to the tank. Here is a picture of the new additions.
I almost bought a new Sargassum Trigger...but decided to hold off a bit. God willing the DINOs are behind me and I can concentrate on fish and corals... Would be such a relief......
More later.....
#theMatrix
Active member
Nice! Thats great to hear.
....the anthias look good. On my list this year.
That rock frag holder. Still looking.
....the anthias look good. On my list this year.
That rock frag holder. Still looking.
DanSreef
Premium member
Another quick update... I have a more pronounced Maroon or purplish growth on the rocks and now on parts of the sand. Also have it in my little fuge in the sump. So...I took out the microscope and got to work looking for DINOs. I found none. Much of the purple stuff seems like a filament algae... I also did find some single cell....round material that look very similar but different from the DINOs variety I had. The best news of all...is none of it is mobile. Even the round stuff I found was not mobile and were adhered to filaments, particles of sand...etc. So....I am still a little gun shy...but perhaps those buggers have finally puked out.
Of course the downside of having a microscope and having suffered DINOs...is everything that looks out of place now gets surveyed under magnification. ? As a result I now have more material I want to identify but there is very little online to help. If any of you have any suggestions please send it my way. I would like to see what this stuff is and determine if I just need to let them take their course or do something about the. My gut say leave em alone!
I tested the water mid week and for some reason my alkalinity had fallen to 5.5 dkh. Not overly concerned and was easily fixed slowly.... Calcium was at 550. ph is at 8.2 and temp is very stable at 77.8. So...the water parameters are all good... But...the frags I put in last weekend just don't seem to be thriving. It is possible they are still acclimating, perhaps the Alk issue pissed them of...not sure. The plus side all the fish are doing well.
I need to order a new cuc soon as most of the snail puked with the DINOs. With the growing algae....I need to put them to work.
More to come.
Of course the downside of having a microscope and having suffered DINOs...is everything that looks out of place now gets surveyed under magnification. ? As a result I now have more material I want to identify but there is very little online to help. If any of you have any suggestions please send it my way. I would like to see what this stuff is and determine if I just need to let them take their course or do something about the. My gut say leave em alone!
I tested the water mid week and for some reason my alkalinity had fallen to 5.5 dkh. Not overly concerned and was easily fixed slowly.... Calcium was at 550. ph is at 8.2 and temp is very stable at 77.8. So...the water parameters are all good... But...the frags I put in last weekend just don't seem to be thriving. It is possible they are still acclimating, perhaps the Alk issue pissed them of...not sure. The plus side all the fish are doing well.
I need to order a new cuc soon as most of the snail puked with the DINOs. With the growing algae....I need to put them to work.
More to come.
jrpark22000
Premium member
I came to the same conclusion when looking at stuff under a scope. Most of the time I went to google image search for endless hours. There are specialized college level texts on the subject but each can easily cost several hundreds and there's no guarantee it'll help. Anymore I shoot to identify the family (at best) but at times have to live with order.
On a side topic, there is a darn god book on fish parasites that does help identify things but again it's $$. In case you ever need a peak I've got a copy, isbn 978-0813806976
On a side topic, there is a darn god book on fish parasites that does help identify things but again it's $$. In case you ever need a peak I've got a copy, isbn 978-0813806976
carpetreef75
Premium member
They could very well be pissed off , bought a new test kit and found calcium to be at 350 and the raise to 450 relatively quick pizzed off a few sps and shrooms .Fingers crossed looks like you are ready to declare Victory
Bryan
Bryan
ColaAddict
New member
Leave the purplish stuff for awhile. Seems like they are the ones out-competing the Dino's.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
DanSreef
Premium member
https://youtu.be/YLgD1Rzv67E
Hey guys. A short video of a baby horse shoe crab I bought a few weeks ago. I honestly thought it was toast...but doing some maintenance today...there he was. I know these guys grow fast but also thought it could help me with Dinos and algae in the sandbed. He seems to be healthy...though a little upset that I disturbed him. Enjoy!
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G890A using Tapatalk
Hey guys. A short video of a baby horse shoe crab I bought a few weeks ago. I honestly thought it was toast...but doing some maintenance today...there he was. I know these guys grow fast but also thought it could help me with Dinos and algae in the sandbed. He seems to be healthy...though a little upset that I disturbed him. Enjoy!
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G890A using Tapatalk