Reef nutrition

Reef Hobbyist 40B

The corals look like they're in recovery process (no further melting after the dip).

Today was day 1 of the blackout... Corals were all shrunken, clowns looked pretty freaked out of the darkness (had to target feed them), Dino looked the same, Bryopisis is blackening...

I wrapped the tank with cardboard all around, all lights off, skimming wet, Ph 8.2 right now.

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Not sure if I should expect the GHA/Bryopsis/Dino to vanish by end of the blackout/H2O2 dose or will they just weaken and I have to scrub + siphon all of it out?
 
Be prepared to scrub and siphon. A tube with toothbrush ziptied to it siphoning into a filter sock makes it easiest. If you can siphon into sump with return pump on or a bucket and dump it back ok you can stay at it as long as you want
 
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Coral reefer said:
Be prepared to scrub and siphon. A tube with toothbrush ziptied to it siphoning into a filter sock makes it easiest. If you can siphon into sump with return pump on or a bucket and dump it back ok you can stay at it as long as you want
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I've done that for a while. Is it ok to siphon Dino back into the system via a sock? Won't it break down & get through the sock and spread again?
 
So, this is a little unorthodox, but I've found that those $9 electric toothbrushes that you can buy at the drug store are totally submersible and reef tank safe. I think I bought the one from Colgate. They have a tiny washer that protects the battery compartment from getting wet even when everything is underwater. I've used it for a year or so and I've never seen a drop of water inside the battery compartment. They will obliterate pretty much anything from your live rocks, so use carefully. Also great for cleaning your skimmer, the corners of your tank, etc.
 
After 8 months into reefing and lugging around 4 large water jugs to & from the store every week, I finally got the BRS 4 Stage Value Plus RO/DI System 75gpd yesterday.

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Got a great deal for black friday! Setup for super easy…
  • PSI is 60
  • In TDS is 7-10
  • Out TDS is 0
  • 2h 3m to fill a 5 gal jug
I assumed that this can also be used for drinking but after research found out DI water is not good to drink. I just ordered a 3 way ball value from BRS to bypass the 3rd & 4th state so I can get RO water to drink or flush the membrane & DI for the tank.
 
Geneva said:
Is your blackout period over? How do things look?
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The blackout is done, I didn't have enough salt (got my shipment yesterday & I hate UPS cos it was 4 days delayed) so could only do a 25% PWC but I scrubbed and siphoned out bad stuff as much as possible. I'm still dosing H2O2 until end of this week.

Now I only see very small traces of GHA & Bryopsis. No sign of Dino so far but from the last few weeks of fighting it, they normally show up 3-4 days after PWC. I'll find out how successful it was by end of this week.

Also the scoly is recovering very well in Alfred's tank...
 
rygh said:
Hope it worked!
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I just turned off all my pumps and very closely inspected the usual pockets on the rock where Dino shows up and really didn't find any trace of it (just tiny patches of GHA & bryopsis)

I'm going to wait a few more days and observe before I get excited that I got rid of Dino ;) (fingers crossed)
 
Only thing that worked for me to get rid of dinoflagellates was decreasing photoperiod. I keep it to 7 hours now, and only like 6 hours is near full intensity. Good luck!
 
Today was water change day and what did I find???

F***ing DINO again! Things were good 4-5 days after the blackout and its back! Siphoned all of it and did a 35% PWC.

I'm starting to now dose 2ml/10gal H2O2 for 5 days to see if it works.

Else I'm going to have to find Fauna Marin Ultra Algea X as a last resort :(

Frustrating :mad:
 
Finally I have a screen top! @jonmos75 was generous to give me his BRS clear netting & tool (thanks), all I needed is a frame from Lowes. Fits perfect overall... there's a 2" gap in the back (for cables & return line) and I hope not to see any more suicides!

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Nav said:
Finally I have a screen top! @jonmos75 was generous to give me his BRS clear netting & tool (thanks), all I needed is a frame from Lowes. Fits perfect overall... there's a 2" gap in the back (for cables & return line AND FISH TO JUMP OUT) and I hope not to see any more suicides!

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I had to, sorry. You know its gonna happen tho. Id try to close up all the spots that aren't being used up in that gap tho if you can
 
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Nav - that screen looks really nice! Curious though - does it cover more area than your glass top did?! The last 2" is where my fish always manage to jump out of - don't know how they do it....
 
Geneva said:
Nav - that screen looks really nice! Curious though - does it cover more area than your glass top did?! The last 2" is where my fish always manage to jump out of - don't know how they do it....
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Geneva, I had a 4" opening in the front to leave my hand in + mainly for my auto feeder. Now that its a screen, the pellets can drop through it.

Also with glass, the evaporated water sits on the inner wall making it very hard to see through, now its awesome! I'm going to somehow cover up the 2" back opening now...
 
Geneva said:
Nav - that screen looks really nice! Curious though - does it cover more area than your glass top did?! The last 2" is where my fish always manage to jump out of - don't know how they do it....
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Agree with this. Fish tend to jump out when they get spooked, run into the glass, and then go up and out of the tank. Getting the perimeter closed off really well is critical to keeping them in the tank.
 
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Nav said:
Today was water change day and what did I find???

F***ing DINO again! Things were good 4-5 days after the blackout and its back! Siphoned all of it and did a 35% PWC.

I'm starting to now dose 2ml/10gal H2O2 for 5 days to see if it works.

Else I'm going to have to find Fauna Marin Ultra Algea X as a last resort :(

Frustrating :mad:
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Dang!
Are you using a filter sock on overflows?
Supposedly that helps a lot with the blackout, since it captures dead/dying ones.

Do it again. One time may not be enough.
 
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