Dinoflagellates V.S. Diatoms
- Thread starter little
- Start date
promisetbg
Active Member
Dino looks like bubbles and attaches to your substrate.....diatoms looks like a brown dusting all over everything.
tinyreef
Member
letting dinos "run its course" is basically crashing the tank. it will smother everything unless you bring it under control.
the quickest (imo most effective) method is direct vacuuming out of the dinos. you can use an air tube and siphon it all out little by little. i've seen some snails eat some dinos but it's not something they can subsist on nor is it preferable. plus, ymmv with each snail.
siphon it out and try to discover the reason the dinos are getting a foothold, i.e. nutrient levels, water flow, lighting, or just runaway colony growth fueled by the others (often the reason imo). hth
the quickest (imo most effective) method is direct vacuuming out of the dinos. you can use an air tube and siphon it all out little by little. i've seen some snails eat some dinos but it's not something they can subsist on nor is it preferable. plus, ymmv with each snail.
siphon it out and try to discover the reason the dinos are getting a foothold, i.e. nutrient levels, water flow, lighting, or just runaway colony growth fueled by the others (often the reason imo). hth
clarkiiboi
Active Member
I am still suffering with what I believe to be dino's now. It looks like a cross between red slime and diatoms. The color looks more like diatoms, but acts like red slime. I have tried numerous times to syphon it out, but it does return. And syphoning with the air line tube is a hassle (but it looks great for about 3 days). Any small shell chip or small piece of rock will clog the tube--it takes patience to work those clogs out. I can say using the larger tubes (the ones used clean fresh water tanks takes out way too much sand). I am going to tag along to see what others have to say.
bang guy
Moderator
That sounds more like Cyanobacter Clarkii. An easy way to tell the difference is in the growth habits. Cyanobacter won't grow at night and will often retreat. Dino will continue growing at night. Dino is also usually very dark from dark brown to black. Cyano can be any color. I've seen green, red, black, purple.
T
tizzo
Guest
Now Bang, I had a dino outbreak recently and when I questioned a fellow hobbiest about it he suggested my ph, specifically my alkalinity was probably low. So I went home and tested..lo and behold it was 5. something!!! So I raised it back up to 8.5ish and in 3 days it was gone. Is this a common cause for dino's?? Or was my friend just lucky?
pyro
Active Member
hmmmmm, these "dinos" might be what I have. I also have a bad case of hair algae due to unknown reasons - I'm going to slowly change my 2 PC bulbs and cut back the flake to once a day instead of 2x. Feed frozen 1x a week and cycloop eese 1x a week. Also, up water changes.
It does look a lot like snot, but its not a flat covering - it has elevation. Almost looks bubbly or string. I'll try and get a pic tonight after work.
It does look a lot like snot, but its not a flat covering - it has elevation. Almost looks bubbly or string. I'll try and get a pic tonight after work.
clarkiiboi
Active Member
LOL Bang--awhile back you thought I could have dino's, I am confused now. It does disappear at night, but it really never looked like the pics I seen here of cyano, or what I thought was cyano awhile back in my tank. It just looks different, that's all I can say. Well, I dont want to take over this thread, so I will search more.