Dino battle and Chemi-clean

[dtiedke]

OK...so I am still in a battle with this dino...

I did a 40% RO/DI water change, and removed every rock, scrubbed it in a pail of SW, rinsed in another pail of SW, and replaced in the tank.

(Note: My comet was in one rock, and was discovered during scrubbing and would not come out. So we finished the scrubbing and returned the rock to the tank with the comet still in it. It took 1 hour before he came out...and he has been totally unaffected! We also found our blennie swimming in the pail right before we dumped it in the back yard!!! The water was very dark, but he swam near the surface and happen to catch my wife's eye...He too is no worse for wear after the trip!)

Anyway, I am posting this picture of the "before" treatment of chemi-clean, and will post pictures of the same area after the first treatment (48 hours). I am leary of this treatment, as it asks that you stop skimming for one day, and must replace 20% of the water after treatment....

Wish me luck!

Dave

 

[reefNewbie]

goodluck, hopefully you didnt do all of that work for nothing!

 

[EmilyB]

If it is truly dino and not cyano...a local reefer tried the chemi-clean with no effect, but a three day lighting shutdown seemed to work for him in the end.

 

[madrefkepr]

I agree with Emily. Light shutdown should work. But, it does look like cyano...

 

[Bryan Thompson]

I have been fighting this stuff for over a month in a friend of mines tank. Did the big water change, did the lights off for 5 days, removed all the rock and cleaned. Everytime, it came back!! Mine is dark rust to black. There is no red in it. It is not bubbley snot so I don't think it is Dino. Any thoughts on what may help? I am using saltwater maracyn for 4 days with the lights and skimmer off right now to see if that works. It does not seem to be working. Any help here will be appreciated.

Thanks

Bryan

 

[dtiedke]

Thanks for the tips....i really do appreciate them all.

I did give the "blackout" a try for 2.5 days. When I removed the cardboard from around the tank, I was very pleased with the results. No slime anywhere!

However, within 2 days it was back, bigger than ever. :twisted:

I don't think this is cyano, as it is very brown/gold color and the cyano I have seen is more a reddish color. Also, the cyano I have seen looks more like a dusting or thin layer....where this stuff is very thick, grows tons of bubbles, and will eventually pull off and float up in "sheets" of slime.

I plan to repeat the treatment in another 24 hours as directed, and then follow it up with another 40% water change. So far the stuff isn't taking over the rocks like it did before....but that may just be wishful thinking...

I have been under the impression that large water changes are better than smaller, more frequesnt ones are. Is this true? The logic goes:

If you have a count of 100 of X and do a 50% change you have a balance of 50 X left behind.

Yet if you have a count of 100 of X, and do a 10% change you have 90 X left, then do another 10% change you have 81 X, and another 10% leaves you with 72.9 X then another leaves you with 65.9 X then finally another gives you a balance of 59 X.

The math seems right....if you change the same amount of water (50%), you would be better off doing it in one change versus 5 10% changes.

Then again I could be all wrong......


Thanks,

Dave

 

[Tinker]

I beat a bad case of dinos in a 7g nano over a period of a few months. I think it was a combination of all the things everyone suggests like shorter light period, better skimmer, more water changes, less food, bigger clean-up crew, ect....
I never found the silver bullet.

 

[JeremyR]

I've tried it a couple times out of curiosity and know several people who have used it, and if you don't overdose it it seems to work pretty well. Like any chemical fix, I reserve it as a last resort, proceed at your own risk, and be prepared for major water change thing.

 

[texasreefer]

Chemi-Clean works good on Cyano if you follow the directions. I don't know if it will work on Dino's.

 

[Anonymous]

OK...so I am still in a battle with this dino...


Tell me more about your tank..............how long has it been running. Have you checked for Phosphates?

 

[dtiedke]

A little about my tank:

135 Oceanic
7 months old with 120# LR, 5" sand/CC bed
2X250w Iwaski MH
4x95w Actinic
Added 30g Sump, velocity T-4 return, and EuroReef CS8-2 (6 weeks in service)

Livestock:

Small Yellow Tang,
2x Percula Clown & LTA
2X Maroon Clown & BTA
Lawnmower Blennie
Marine Comet (Beta)
2x Velvet Damsels (can't catch the little suckers!)
20 assorted turbos and astrea snails
50 hermits (blue and red legged) of which I estimate 20 are still alive

Parameters:

Ammonia=0, Nitrite=0, Nitrate=5, KH=7, Calcium=440, PH=8.2, SG=1.023 (refractometer), and Temp=79-81

All tests for Phosphate have always read nil...tested many times on both my tank and tap. I have been running RO/DI for the past couple of weeks for top-off, and did my first major water change with it on Sunday (40%). I had been using tap water up until a couple of weeks ago.

I was trying to be patient and let the algae "run its course" as others have advised new tanks will do. But this stuff totally covered every inch of sand, rock and glass before I started to take these drastic measures. I have tried the "blackout" for a couple of days, vacuumed the bed and rocks, and have finally resorted to removing the rock and scrubbing it in an effort to slow it down. So far, it does not seem to be retreating. I have dosed with Chemi-clean last night, and this afternoon I will admit that there are not nearly as many fresh "bubbles" as there usually is during this time in the photoperiod. I guess that is a good sign. Before, I could always tell how successful my efforts had been by how quickly everything would get covered by bubbles, and then the bubbles would turn into the slime...

I am rambling....

Anyway, I cannot thank you all enough for your kind words of encouragement, and the helpful hints at winning this fight....


Dave

 

[Anonymous]

Well........your tank is much larger than I thought it was. I wish I could actually see the tank. The pic really looked like Cyano to me...that should go away in time....as the tank matures. Mine went away very quickly after I started using distilled water and phosphate sponge that I replace every two weeks. I am thinking that maybe your tank may be taking longer to mature because of its size. I also use inverts to clean my tank.........Fighting Conch,Brittle Star, Spiny Star, Peppermint Shrimp,and few hermits. I also employed a Foxface to eat the Green Hair Algae in my tank. He does a great job of keeping it looking like a nicely trimmed Golf Green. I would invest in some sand sifting inverts.

 

[dtiedke]

Well, after doing one dose of Chemi-clean, I have a status update...


Now before everyone jumps on the "it is cyano" wagon, let me assure you I have seen tanks infested with cyano, and this is NOT what I have. What I have is snotty, slimy, and bubble filled brown/gold colored algae all over everything in my tank. It produces millions of bubbles, most towards the end of the photoperiod. At the start of the next day, the bubbles are gone until the lights come back on which starts the generation of new bubbles.....


Now for the update....

I dosed as instructed, and turned off the skimmer for the required 24 hours. The first day I did not notice much change, yet on the second day I did! The bubbles have ceased, the slime has dried up, and the substrate looks like it is covered in a brown dust now!

When I turned my skimmer back on after the first 24 hours, it put a massive amount of small bubbles in my tank that my baffles in the sump could not filter....That lasted for about 12 hours. Now (after 36 hours from initial dose, and 12 hours after skimmer started) my water looks really good. I must say that the water has never been so crystal clear! I usually run carbon for 2 weeks a month, and a phosphate sponge for 2 weeks alternating, and the water has never looked this clean.

As for the effects on my livestock...none so far.... My clams seem fine, I have no corals yet so I can't comment, my snails and hermits seem fine, and my fish are not acting strange or breathing hard.

Conclusion: I guess it might have worked, yet I think it is too early to tell. The bed is still brown, but it looks like dust and not slime. I will clean it up, and report back in a week (a real test to its effectiveness).


Thanks to all for your help,

Dave

 

[Anonymous]

We are looing forward to reading an update. Keep us posted.

 

[outerbank]

This stuff worked great for me.

Scott

 

[Anonymous]

Ok.so if not Cyano..what is it?

 

[dtiedke]

dinoflagellates

 

[Anonymous]

Thankyou!

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the tips....i really do appreciate them all.

I did give the "blackout" a try for 2.5 days. When I removed the cardboard from around the tank, I was very pleased with the results. No slime anywhere!

However, within 2 days it was back, bigger than ever. :twisted:

I don't think this is cyano, as it is very brown/gold color and the cyano I have seen is more a reddish color. Also, the cyano I have seen looks more like a dusting or thin layer....where this stuff is very thick, grows tons of bubbles, and will eventually pull off and float up in "sheets" of slime.

I plan to repeat the treatment in another 24 hours as directed, and then follow it up with another 40% water change. So far the stuff isn't taking over the rocks like it did before....but that may just be wishful thinking...

I have been under the impression that large water changes are better than smaller, more frequesnt ones are. Is this true? The logic goes:

If you have a count of 100 of X and do a 50% change you have a balance of 50 X left behind.

Yet if you have a count of 100 of X, and do a 10% change you have 90 X left, then do another 10% change you have 81 X, and another 10% leaves you with 72.9 X then another leaves you with 65.9 X then finally another gives you a balance of 59 X.

The math seems right....if you change the same amount of water (50%), you would be better off doing it in one change versus 5 10% changes.

Then again I could be all wrong......


Thanks,

Dave

nothing wrong w/your math at all