My battle with dinoflagellates

[Llorgon]

Originally Posted by hillegom

Some people have success with Hydrogen Peroxide treatments for GHA

https://www.nano-reef.com/forums/top...on-and-photos/

Hmm. I will have to check that out. Might be worth a try. I do have some hydrogen peroxide laying around.

Originally Posted by Dash

I have a great big ball I have to harvest soon.

Ok. You twisted my arm. When you are ready to harvest let me know and I will stop by.

Originally Posted by Razor Ramon

Great to hear you hung in there and won !
Big Mexican turbos eat the green !

I thought the mexican turbos didn't last long in reef tanks since they came from cooler waters? Or am I thinking of a different snail type?

[Dash]

I’ve had the same 3 turbos since starting the hobby haha

[Reyphox]

When I had GHA like that I just scrubbed hard and changed the filter sock 30 minutes later to prevent it decomposing back into the tank. Added a Turbo as well. My tank read very low nitrates and no phosphates so I didn't bother increasing my water changes because clearly at that time it was all in the algae. But if your readings are high then you'll have to perform some water changes or throw in some media to help bring those numbers down.

Originally Posted by Razor Ramon

Great to hear you hung in there and won !
Big Mexican turbos eat the green !

I would recommend the Zebra Turbo Snail (Philippines) instead. They come from warmer water and do just as good of a job.

[Frogger]

Not sure I would want to dose H2O2 directly to my tank. I have tried it before to control algae and it did not work unless you use it in an Oxydator.

You do not have a lot of rocks in your tank. I would just take them out and scrub them. Add some CUC to keep it in check. You might have to do it a few times.

If you really must use peroxide I would spot treat out of the tank. Only problem is peroxide does a great job on the hair algae but it also toasts coraline algae and amphipods/copepods as well.

Be careful how quickly you bring you nutrient levels back down or you could cause a cyano outbreak or worse back to the dinoflagellates. You haven't eliminated them only created a more balanced system that out competes them.

Chemical cures can also create an unbalanced system which leads to further problems.

[Razor Ramon]

The Mexican turbos that Aquarium illusion in my area get in are very large as turbos go they live along time but there like bulls in a china store.
Another very good snail are the strawberry snails but over time they get big and again if corals are not encrusted or on plugs they can move them. The strawberry will grow bigger than the Mexican turbos . Both are excellent grazers.

[Llorgon]

Originally Posted by Dash

I’ve had the same 3 turbos since starting the hobby haha

That's impressive. Snails seem to be one of those things I really struggle to keep alive. My survival rate seems to be 1 in 5. I have no clue why.

Originally Posted by Reyphox

When I had GHA like that I just scrubbed hard and changed the filter sock 30 minutes later to prevent it decomposing back into the tank. Added a Turbo as well. My tank read very low nitrates and no phosphates so I didn't bother increasing my water changes because clearly at that time it was all in the algae. But if your readings are high then you'll have to perform some water changes or throw in some media to help bring those numbers down.

I would recommend the Zebra Turbo Snail (Philippines) instead. They come from warmer water and do just as good of a job.

What do you use to scrub the rocks, just a toothbrush? My nitrate and phosphates are high. So no mystery as to why I have so muh algae. I'm working on slowly lowering them. Where can you get the zebra turbos?

Originally Posted by Frogger

Not sure I would want to dose H2O2 directly to my tank. I have tried it before to control algae and it did not work unless you use it in an Oxydator.

You do not have a lot of rocks in your tank. I would just take them out and scrub them. Add some CUC to keep it in check. You might have to do it a few times.

If you really must use peroxide I would spot treat out of the tank. Only problem is peroxide does a great job on the hair algae but it also toasts coraline algae and amphipods/copepods as well.

Be careful how quickly you bring you nutrient levels back down or you could cause a cyano outbreak or worse back to the dinoflagellates. You haven't eliminated them only created a more balanced system that out competes them.

Chemical cures can also create an unbalanced system which leads to further problems.

I agree on the H2O2. After reading more into it it seems like it usually will kill more than just the algae. Which I am not sure my tank can handle that at the moment

For scrubbing the rocks I just scrub them in some saltwater and then put them back in?

I'm worried about lowering the nutrient levels. You are correct the dinos aren't gone just out competed. I can still see some on the ends of the gha. I'm trying to lower them slowly with small water changes each week. Also trying not to use as chemicals either.

I really want to find a good balance between appropriate nutrient levels to keep dinos away and enough CUC to keep algae to a visible minimum. My main problem is finding the right combination of CUC and keeping them alive.

Originally Posted by Razor Ramon

The Mexican turbos that Aquarium illusion in my area get in are very large as turbos go they live along time but there like bulls in a china store.
Another very good snail are the strawberry snails but over time they get big and again if corals are not encrusted or on plugs they can move them. The strawberry will grow bigger than the Mexican turbos . Both are excellent grazers.

Interesting. I will look into the strawberry snails. I haven't heard of them before.

What about emerald crabs for gha. I have heard they are good for eating it, but can get aggressive to fish or start eating some corals. Anyone had any experience with them?

[Reyphox]

Originally Posted by Llorgon

What do you use to scrub the rocks, just a toothbrush? My nitrate and phosphates are high. So no mystery as to why I have so muh algae. I'm working on slowly lowering them. Where can you get the zebra turbos?

Yes, just a toothbrush. You can pick off whatever you can by hand and then scrub the rest. J & L sells them as Philippine Turbos.

[Frogger]

Originally Posted by Llorgon

What do you use to scrub the rocks, just a toothbrush?
I agree on the H2O2. After reading more into it it seems like it usually will kill more than just the algae. Which I am not sure my tank can handle that at the moment

For scrubbing the rocks I just scrub them in some saltwater and then put them back in?

I use this to scrub the rocks https://www.bulkreefsupply.com/small...ood-grips.html I bought it off amazon.ca.

Just take the rock carefully out of the tank trying not to dump the detritus into the tank. Scrub them until you remove all traces of hair algae. You can spot treat with straightup 3% peroxide for tough to reach areas. Not the difficult to do just takes time. It is important after doing it to turkey baste your rocks regularly and not let any detritus settle on them.

You also need to look at maintaining your sandbed before it becomes part of the problem. See this thread,
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/th...t-many.230281/

This thread has a lot of useful information in it.
it is amazing how much detritus builds up in your sand. I actually ended up siphoning most of it out and only left some in one end of the tank for the wrasse. Mostly because I had a really bad cyano outbreak that took me over a year to get under control.

You are lucky you do not have a lot of rocks in your tank.

[Razor Ramon]

I always liked emerald crabs in a small tank like yours I’d only put one .
Reefers say never trust a crab .
They are opportunist so if they run out of algae the might try something else .
All the years of having emerald crabs I have never got a gouge one .
Now hermits yea bad killed my snails just because they wanted to try a new shell then went back to there old shell . Go figure

[Llorgon]

Originally Posted by Frogger

I use this to scrub the rocks https://www.bulkreefsupply.com/small...ood-grips.html I bought it off amazon.ca.

Just take the rock carefully out of the tank trying not to dump the detritus into the tank. Scrub them until you remove all traces of hair algae. You can spot treat with straightup 3% peroxide for tough to reach areas. Not the difficult to do just takes time. It is important after doing it to turkey baste your rocks regularly and not let any detritus settle on them.

You also need to look at maintaining your sandbed before it becomes part of the problem. See this thread,
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/th...t-many.230281/

This thread has a lot of useful information in it.
it is amazing how much detritus builds up in your sand. I actually ended up siphoning most of it out and only left some in one end of the tank for the wrasse. Mostly because I had a really bad cyano outbreak that took me over a year to get under control.

You are lucky you do not have a lot of rocks in your tank.

Ok I will have to try the rock scrubbing.

The sand cleaning is interesting. I definitely thought the stuff living in the sand was more fragile than it seems. I am quite bad at cleaning the sand as well.

Also made me think of the sump... I don't think I have cleaned that at all. Next water change I will have to suck it out. Will probably be a big help.

Originally Posted by Razor Ramon

I always liked emerald crabs in a small tank like yours I’d only put one .
Reefers say never trust a crab .
They are opportunist so if they run out of algae the might try something else .
All the years of having emerald crabs I have never got a gouge one .
Now hermits yea bad killed my snails just because they wanted to try a new shell then went back to there old shell . Go figure

I might have to try a emerald crab. If it can help in the gha fight why not.

Anyone tried a urchin? I heard they were great algae eaters, but with my track record of snails I'm not sure how well it would do.

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