In addition to providing important nutritional supplementation to many aquarium species, this method safely robs undesirable algae species of excess nutrients as they build up.
Notably, this tactic has been reported to eliminate some of the most loathed forms of nuisance dinoflagellates. The order Dinoflagellata is quite ancient and diverse.
It is worth noting that not all of its members are harmful in the aquarium; indeed, dinoflagellates of the genus Symbiodinium referred to as the zooxanthellae are well-known for their important mutualistic association with reef-building corals. Furthermore, dinoflagellates are one of the most represented groups among the marine plankton where they contribute significantly to local food webs. The roughly 1, dinoflagellate species are rather difficult to classify.
They are generally placed into a group of flagellated protozoa called phytoflagellates. Zoologists tend to classify phytoflagellates strictly as protozoans, whereas botanists consider them to be true algae. This confusion is understandable, given their simultaneously plant-like and animal-like characteristics. They appear to be the product of the mergence i. This helps to explain why some types most, in fact are photosynthetic while a few are heterotrophic that is, eat stuff.
The heterotrophic forms are actually quite weird, and can grow rapidly in aquaria where there are high concentrations of dissolved organic compounds. Dinoflagellates are exclusively unicellular, though there are some colonial types can form long chains. All possess a pair of flagella one short, one long , for which they are named. The flagella project from grooves along their bodies and are used primarily for locomotion.
Being a reef aquarists, means dealing with nuisance algae, parasites, and other pests… Cyanobacteria, AEFW, Red Bugs, and who here remembers that pink cotton candy algae Callithamnion? But dinoflagellates are usually just a pit stop in the succession of algae in a new tank.
Like diatoms, we would just ignore Dinos and usually they went away. Sometimes they needed a little help with something like a three day blackout or spiking the pH. But something has changed with dinoflagellates lately in that they have become a chronic plague for many hobbyists, including me. Both of my reef aquariums would get dinoflagellate outbreaks whenever I would make small changes. Corals struggled to grow and thrive while covered in the brown snot.
This is the best option for those who who not use a sand bed and going bare bottom yet want to free of the risk of pests. You can obtain Live Rock from Florida that is Maricultured. If you are starting up a new tank and can cure, this is an excellent option. It is shipped directly to your door. The base is Oolite Limestone rock that has been left in the ocean for several years undisturbed.
You will run the risk of a having a pest hitchhiker, but honestly in my experience these pests are less of a pain to deal with then dinos. An old school solution. Once cured, Dinos tend not to be an issue because of the great biodiversity contained in this rock. For those people who are not able to procure live rock or have a sand bed, the other option would be to introduce microfauna and bacteria through an aquaculture facility like Indo Pacific Sea Farms.
They have been around for many years and their live sand activator and wondermud are just the ticket for increasing biodiversity. Snails encourage dinoflagellates to settle in and make your tank their home. Dinos will wreck havoc on an invert population. Anything that attempts to eat it can be poisoned to death and the toxins they release will kill most inverts including microfauna like pods!
Once your dino problem is under control, they can be returned to the tank. A tank that is starved for nutrition can cause a dino population to pop up too. Usually this situation comes about when you make some major change to the landscape or population of your tank, and the food shortage is abrupt.
While there are several factors that help dinoflagellates take over, a poor setup and controlling parameters tops the list. When dying, dinoflagellates release toxins into your water. Having Nitrates and Phosphates is good — our hobby has spent years demonizing this. This has lead to tank setups way overbuilt from the start and completely sterile start systems. This extreme approach has lead to more and more dino cases over time! Dinos are tough to deal with.
Use the recommended techniques mentioned in this post to fight them off and understand this is a intense battle. Modern reefs these days can strip nutrients completely clean and may require dosing of nitrates and phosphates to stay at a healthy level. Knowing your consumption puts you in control of your reef tank!
Use a reliable quality test kit to monitor your levels and get in the habit of testing regulary. Just about every modern aquarium enthusiast has done battle with the brown menace. There is hope: you just need to be consistent and patient in your approach killing them off.
Have dinos changed in the last couple of years. I tried all the regiments I could read. And of course raise nitrates and phosphates and probably other more crazy ideas. Why are they so resilient? Modern skimmers and media also contribute to the problem and they pull our nutrients more efficiently than ever before. I had them for about a year or so in my reefer and in my 29 biocube. The reason hobbyists have to come fear dinos is the fact that sometimes they seem virtually impossible to cure.
Thanks to the internet and being able to easily and instantly share your experiences with others, the reef keeping community has produced some paths which seem to work in a majority of cases. Just like algae outbreaks and cyanobacteria, clearing up dinos is not going to be an overnight process.
It will likely take weeks, even months of persistence to completely get rid of it. Let it run its course and take time to celebrate the progress and you will be successful. A properly installed UV sterilizer can be an effective means of ending dinos in your tank all on its own but there are no guarantees. UV sterilization is most effective on the dinoflagellates that break up into the water column at night and disappear, then reappear again when the lights come back on.
If you decide to install a UV, we recommend the Pentair units that define distinct flow ranges to target bacteria and protozoa and a seperate flow range for algae.
This is because a UV sterilizer needs to be tuned for your particular aquarium size and desired result. By slowing down or speeding up the flow rate through the UV sterilizer in such a way that processes the entire tank volume so many times per hour, you can target either "algae and bacteria" or "viruses, parasites and protozoa". It is not possible to remedy both of these ailments with a single UV sterilizer operating at one particular flow rate.
The 25 Watt Pentair UV sterilizer is rated for tanks up to gallons. To target Dinoflagellates protozoa in a tank of this size, the flow rate through the UV must be between and gallons per hour GPH. This will process the entire tank volume roughly every minutes to effectively keep free floating dinos to a minimum.
There are multiple species of dinoflagellates hobbyists can encounter in a reef aquarium. UV sterilizers can only kill what passes through them and if the dinoflagellates species you are seeing in your tank remain on the rock work or sandbed, a UV will be ineffective because they never take on a free floating stage.
Other types of dinos, like those described above that disappear at night and come back again during the day, do have a free floating stage and are vulnerable to UV sterilization. When dinos appear you should be testing your nitrate and phosphate levels. Most experienced hobbyists will run a full water analysis at the first sign of any problems, even if seemingly unrelated to the parameter being tested. Contrary to what you might think, it is the double zero we are really looking out for.
If both phosphate and nitrates are testing at zero, this is likely contributing to the problem. While not proven, repeated anecdotal evidence points to zero nutrients in the water either cause or trigger dinos. The general consensus as to why is that when nutrients are this low, dinos will outcompete beneficial organisms for resources and take over the rock surfaces.
So outside of UV sterilization following this 4 step approach has proven effective against dinoflagellate infestations and remember, patience is mandatory.
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