Demodiki Posted October 24, 2012 Share Posted October 24, 2012 So I've been battling dinos for about 5 months and slowly losing the war. I've tried everything in the book and nothing has worked. So, I wanted to run my plan by you guys and get your thoughts. I'm going to empty the tank and put all livestock in tubs. Empty the tank and throw away the sand. I'll scrub the tank of any algae or dinos. Put in new sand, dry rock, and water. Also, put in some type of live bacteria so I won't go through a cycle. Next, I'm going to put the fish in the tank (there are only two). Ok, after this I plan on fragging what I can and cleaning the coral and plugs. I'll then put those in the tank. I'll then put the 150 or so lbs of rock in some water in the garage and give it a good cooking. Any problems with this plan? Any chance the dinos just lurk in the background on the plugs and overtake again? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Juiceman Posted October 24, 2012 Share Posted October 24, 2012 When I had them in my 90 g tank, I did a combination of many things. I raised my PH, I changed carbon frequently, I reduced my photo period, I scrubbed the rocks I did a series of small water changes where I was replacing the Dino-siphoned water with clean water. Shane had me siphoning into a sock when I wasn't throwing away the siphoned water. I fed every three or four days, I did this over a period of time and they began to go away as my nutrient levels went down. I've heard of carbon dosing helping, vodka would be the quickest method. I currently run bio-pellets and haven't had any issues. I'd hate to kill your rock, scratching the sand will help for sure I think Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Demodiki Posted October 24, 2012 Author Share Posted October 24, 2012 I've done every one if those things and no joy. The only thing I can think of us the rock is "fairly" old at about 8 years...leeching phosphates badly? I don't know but I'm throwing in the towel. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bige Posted October 24, 2012 Share Posted October 24, 2012 I have been there. Honestly, running biopellets is what really turned things around for me. They cleared up really quickly and have not returned. I also run gfo and carbon. This combo seems to have gotten me on the right path. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+brian.srock Posted October 24, 2012 Share Posted October 24, 2012 I went through the gamet as well trying to deal with nuisance algae. I would begin a vodka dosing schedule as stated by juiceman. Here is the link to give you the info and charts http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2008-08/nftt/index.php A bottle of 100 proof vodka cost me $13 so worse case scenario it doesn't work and you can drink til you forget about it. I would also begin a weekly cleaning regiment of your return pump and skimmer collection cup as well as a 20% water change stiring up the sand as well If some of the rock is easily movable then I would dunk it in RO/DI water a couple of times but I don't think cooking all your rock is the answer. If you have some funds I would also invest in a phosban reactor that you can get for $50 and run rowaphos. If you just pull everything out and try to start fresh theirs no guarantee that it won't come back so give vodka and a phosban a chance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DerrickH Posted October 24, 2012 Share Posted October 24, 2012 If you really want to kill this stuff. Remove everything. Fill the tank with tap water. Pour in about 2-3 gallons of vinegar. Let it run for a few days (pumps running ect...) then pour it all out and fill with RO/DI ect. BOIL THE ROCK. Putting it in the garage isnt going to kill it completely, this stuff is determined and even 2 weeks of no sunlight it will still have enough traces to come back. Litteraly, take a turkey fryer out in the back yard or somewhere and BOIL the rock for about an hour. Do not boil it in an enclosed area also..you will get sick. I fought this stuff for months. Tried everthing I could find on the net. The voldka...the super high PH, raising MG, dosing peroxide, 2 weeks black out (complete black out). Manual removal. Phosban changed every 4-5 days running non stop and a TON of it. ROX Carbon changed every 3 days. Hell I even let it run its course in hopes of it eating all the nasties out the water and die'n....nope. I stopped all water changes and that helped but at the first change it would explode again. Also for your corals, peroxide dip them in 3% solution. The corals will be pissed but it will kill the dinos at that level. SPS and clams will not take the peroxide so you may want to part with them completely.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FarmerTy Posted October 24, 2012 Share Posted October 24, 2012 I fought them off after a 2-3 month battle. Do everything that everyone above has mentioned... the no water changes helped out significantly for me, as well as the peroxide (blasting dinos in tank directly with turkey baster of peroxide... just do a different area each night so you aren't overdosing peroxide) and lights out for 2 days at a time... with shorter photo period during entire removal of dinos (1-2 hrs max for me). Enough to keep corals alive at minimal level. Once it starts taking longer for them to come back after the lights are on, start dosing bacteria heavily, running biopellets (or some other form of carbon dosing), and stopping the peroxide in replacement of more "lights" out did it for me. My thought is let the peroxide do some damage initially but I stopped to allow for the bacteria population to return after I noticed it took longer for the dinos to come back. That way the bacteria populations can get back to what they were doing before the dinos showed up. Shorter photoperiods during the entire time of that battle is a must I say. I don't think boiling everything is the answer either. Good luck! Let me know if you have any specific questions. -Ty Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Monnat Jr Posted October 24, 2012 Share Posted October 24, 2012 I had dino and cyano up until my long trip first week of August, but it wasn't as bad as the others posting here. During my trip the petsitters only fed a few flakes and pellets every 2-3 days instead of my normal daily feeding alternating between frozen (PE) and flakes/pellets. I siphoned all that crap out as part of a water change before leaving, but the feeding schedule was the only real change. When I came back after a week and a half, my DT was still dino & cyano free. It stayed free for about a month, but the cyano has made a comeback (still little dino, thankfully). I'm trying to feed less and up my carbon dosing to fight it. The only other possible cause was that I installed an ATO with kalkwasser instead of manually dosing it, so the pH was maintained slightly higher. This probably doesn't directly help you much, because all tanks are different and your case is worse than mine, but the reduced feeding at least slowed down my dino. Good luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Grog Posted October 24, 2012 Share Posted October 24, 2012 A bottle of 100 proof vodka cost me $13 so worse case scenario it doesn't work and you can drink til you forget about it. I like this way of thinking! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Demodiki Posted October 25, 2012 Author Share Posted October 25, 2012 I've tried the peroxide route and noticed no change. I do have a BRS dual reactor with GFO and carbon. I think I see a change in the water clarity as soon as I change the media but it *looks* like I need to change on a weekly basis. I'm not testing for phosphates or anything like that. I've also tried lights out and I **** near never feed my poor fish! Timfish is going to come by and take a look and perhaps offer some suggestions. This can be a frustrating hobby but it won't beat me! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Capt. Obvious Posted October 25, 2012 Share Posted October 25, 2012 might be a good idea to test for phosphates, just saying Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
victoly Posted October 25, 2012 Share Posted October 25, 2012 just to cover bases here, you are using RODI water and a name brand salt mix? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Demodiki Posted October 26, 2012 Author Share Posted October 26, 2012 Yup using both. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ckyuv Posted October 26, 2012 Share Posted October 26, 2012 i would try dosing vodka, worked for me. now i just use reef biofuel by brightwell but they do the same thin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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