Dinoflagellates are not a fun pest, but there are some simple things you can do to help.
Ingredients:
- Phosphate Additive
- Nitrate Additive
- Phosphate testing kit (hanna preffered but api will do)
- Nitrate testing kit (hanna preffered but api will do)
- Sponge Excel From Brightwell (silicate dosing)
- UV Light (1 watt per 3 gallons of water, flow turning over 1-3x an hour)
- Live rock
- Microbacter 7
- Copepods
Recipe
- Ensure you always have nitrates and phosphates, usually dino’s take over when there isn’t enough food for competing algae, which is a vicious cycle. You must have at least 10 nitrate, and 0.1 phosphates. If you have 0 phosphates, you may need heavy dosing to get the tank up-to that number. Check numbers daily while dosing.
- Add Phosphates first, and get to 0.1 BEFORE dosing nitrates. Dosing nitrates first will kill most coral.
- Dose Sponge excel as listed on directions.
- Do not do water changes, you need nutrients to build. Dino’s deplete trace elements that they need, so let them strip it from the water.
- Stop any Amino Acid dosing (Red Sea AB+, Selcon etc)
- Avoid deep cleaning the tank. If you have a UV, use a turkey baster to stir things up to have the UV kill them.
- Watch your alkalinity if you are dosing, certain species of Dino’s can affect Alkalinity consumption.
- Increase the PH if possible. Open a window close to the tank, blow a fan across the top of the tank, run the intake skimmer line to a fresh air source.
- Install and run a UV lamp.
- Add copepods per bottle directions
- Add live rock to the tank, sump or in display is fine
- Dose Microbacter 7 as the bottle instructs.
- Do a blackout on the tank if you dont have coral. This only works if you have a UV light. Cover the tank in cardboard to remove as much light as possible.
