dansreef
Well-Known Member
Hi Everyone.
It has been a while since my last update. I honestly can't find the time to keep up with this thread. I can only say what seemingly has worked for me. My last update was on the 12th and microscopic surveys over the last 12 days have shown a progressive decline in DINOs. Over the last 5 days...I have not been able to find a single DINO anywhere in my tank, sump or ATS. I do however have a whicked outbreak of Cyno. I am not sure what to fully attribute things to. But...I am feeling somewhat confident.... My phosphates are testing at 0 and nitrates at 4+. The cyno bloom left matts of thick material everywhere.
Yesterday I fashioned a small diameter tube/hose with a disposable paintbrush zip tied to it and proceeded to siphon, scrub all the cyno I could. The longer bristles of the paintbrush did a nice job of dislodging the cyno for siphoning. Thanks to my bud ETR for the suggestion. I then let the tank sit until today when I just added a dose of the ChemClean professional drops to the tank. The hope is now to quickly get control of the cyno and then monitor things... I believe that the combination of Metro for the 10 days I dosed, after that then bleach I dosed for 4 days and then the bloom of cyno ultimately caused the population of DINOs to crash. I know some turf scrubber evangelicals will claim algae turf scrubbers (ATS)'s contribute to the decline of DINOs. I am not sure. My ATS sure is growing some nasty algae of all types. And the algae is also chocked full of pods of all types. Zero DINOs anywhere that I can find in the ATS. Did the pods and microfauna prey on the DINOs....who knows. Right now...I am in wait and see mode...with fingers crossed that things will continue to improve.
One other note... I bought some LPS frags this weekend and some leathers. I got talking to the guy I bought from. He suggested that I cut the overall intensity of my lights way back. Theses Radions G3s are notorious for being too powerful and even though I was running an LPS program....what I had in the tank was not too terribly happy. I lowered the overall output/intensity to 40% and almost immediately my LPS, montis and leathers Began to respond. This lowered intensity will also help keep the DINOs in check...if they are still present. If things progress, I will bump up intensity another 15-20% over the next few weeks.
I hope this is helpful. After a battle with DINOs as long as I have been fighting...I am hoping I have defeated them once and for all.
It has been a while since my last update. I honestly can't find the time to keep up with this thread. I can only say what seemingly has worked for me. My last update was on the 12th and microscopic surveys over the last 12 days have shown a progressive decline in DINOs. Over the last 5 days...I have not been able to find a single DINO anywhere in my tank, sump or ATS. I do however have a whicked outbreak of Cyno. I am not sure what to fully attribute things to. But...I am feeling somewhat confident.... My phosphates are testing at 0 and nitrates at 4+. The cyno bloom left matts of thick material everywhere.
Yesterday I fashioned a small diameter tube/hose with a disposable paintbrush zip tied to it and proceeded to siphon, scrub all the cyno I could. The longer bristles of the paintbrush did a nice job of dislodging the cyno for siphoning. Thanks to my bud ETR for the suggestion. I then let the tank sit until today when I just added a dose of the ChemClean professional drops to the tank. The hope is now to quickly get control of the cyno and then monitor things... I believe that the combination of Metro for the 10 days I dosed, after that then bleach I dosed for 4 days and then the bloom of cyno ultimately caused the population of DINOs to crash. I know some turf scrubber evangelicals will claim algae turf scrubbers (ATS)'s contribute to the decline of DINOs. I am not sure. My ATS sure is growing some nasty algae of all types. And the algae is also chocked full of pods of all types. Zero DINOs anywhere that I can find in the ATS. Did the pods and microfauna prey on the DINOs....who knows. Right now...I am in wait and see mode...with fingers crossed that things will continue to improve.
One other note... I bought some LPS frags this weekend and some leathers. I got talking to the guy I bought from. He suggested that I cut the overall intensity of my lights way back. Theses Radions G3s are notorious for being too powerful and even though I was running an LPS program....what I had in the tank was not too terribly happy. I lowered the overall output/intensity to 40% and almost immediately my LPS, montis and leathers Began to respond. This lowered intensity will also help keep the DINOs in check...if they are still present. If things progress, I will bump up intensity another 15-20% over the next few weeks.
I hope this is helpful. After a battle with DINOs as long as I have been fighting...I am hoping I have defeated them once and for all.
