Extreme macro dinoflagellates ID needed

[keri]

Hi there, I'm pretty sure I'm dealing with dinos(tank full of brownish snot, not like cyano, this stuff just breaks apart to reform somewhere else, it's killing me, I'm on day 2 of lights out with quite a bit of improvement, just have to find the root of it), brought a sample into work and snapped some pics....anyone have any experience ID'ing these guys? The pics are anywhere from 40-1000x power. I *think* the brownish ovoids are the bad guys, there seem to be a LOT of them, of varying sizes.
ANY and ALL suggestions/comments are welcome!!!

I think these are bad...

 

[keri]

more pics

 

[tizzo]

Prorocentrum lima

P. lima is an armoured, marine, benthic dinoflagellate species with world-wide distribution.
Prorocentrum lima
is the most common toxic Prorocentrum species in the Gulf of
Mexico.

 

[keri]

Tizzo you're my shining star
thank you!
While I can't make an EXACT match due to (my) picture quality I'd say you're likely right I had a hard time taking these pictures with the scope due to depth of field (it was a chunky sample)
Anyone else care to offer any helpful tips or tricks on ridding my tank of this stuff?

 

[tizzo]

I stole this from R. Shimek
I would suggest a three pronged attack.
First, siphon out the stuff and do a series of regular but fairly large water changes. If you have gravel vacuum it. If you have a sand bed don't vacuum it. The aim here is to reduce the dissolved nutrients.
Second, either in your main tank or in the sump, start growing some macroalgae. Caulerpa is okay, Halimeda, etc. Anyway, these algae will compete with the the dino's for nutrient and will bring it down. Takes a couple of months for the full treatment. Use 24/7 lights on the macroalgae if you can, and harvest it periodically.
Third, try to get some animal that will eat the stuff. The sand fauna of a good sand bed will have some animals that do this. Queen conch snails will generally eat it, but they need a large sand area to crawl on. As far as I know no fish or sea urchin will touch it, though.
Concentrate your attack using water changes and macroalgae competition.
Aerate your tank well, when the lights go out the dino's respire and can lower the oxygen concentration rapidly. Then some algae and/or critters can die. This accounts for the odor you described.
Cheers,
Ron

 

[keri]

Awesome, thanks tizzo!
The tank looks better allready, tho I know it's likely temporary, i have a big ball of chaeto in another tank that i could throw in (wish i had a refugium) and I've done a couple of 10% water changes and one 20% one. Unfortunately I have sand so can't vacuum and a queen conch will outgrow my tank, it's only a 65 Speaking of which....I should check on the sea hare, that was only a rental....don't think there is much in there for him to eat right now, tho last time I saw him (yesterday) he was still pooping something so something must be going it?
so far the worst I've seen is
yellow wrasse MIA (I think he's freaked out by the extended lights out - hopefully he'll come out of the sandbed eventually)
empty cerith shell
I think my bird's nest is on it's way out
and my BTA has split, I'm thinking due to stress rather than "he was in the mood"

<-- this emote applies to a lot of things in this hobby....it's a good thing it's also just as rewarding when things go right!

 

[tizzo]

You actually can vacuum your sand. If your grains are way to small you can bend to the point of creasing the line and the suction will be weakened enough that it won't pick up the sand. And if it does, squeeze the pinch closed and all the sand will fall out.
I have sand and I stir it up every day. Day 1-5 created quite a cloud but not anymore. Unless it's a DSB, then don't do that, lol

 

[keri]

Really? What kind of siphon would I use? Not the regular gravel-vacs right? Maybe just some airline tubing? I've been turkey bastering a lot lol... very time consuming and awkward because the tank is so deep.
Maybe I'll make a trip to the hardware store today and seeabout some tubing that's a little bigger than airline tubing.

 

[tizzo]

I use a regular gravel syphon, but like I said I pinch off the line so less water can come through it. It picks up only the lightest stuff, all the cloud under the sand and stuff. If I don't pinch it off, then it does get some sand, but for me that's OK, since I put in to much to begin with.

My son helps me w/ water changes and hates it cause it takes so long, lol. He has to hold the other end to make sure it stays in the bucket.
Edit+ Now that I think about it, the reason I have to pinch mine off is cause it's the largest size they make. If you buy a smaller one, where the tubing down to the bucket is narrow, then you don't have to pinch it. Mines like a half inch or so. Mine is the 24 inch python brand syphon.

 

[keri]

Originally Posted by Tizzo
http:///forum/post/2638015
My son helps me w/ water changes and hates it cause it takes so long, lol. He has to hold the other end to make sure it stays in the bucket.
Maybe I should have some kids, I could always use the help with the tanks

 

[mscarpena]

I had some and a rabbit fish ate all mine up very quickly. Also ate my zoanthids though. I got a striped rabbit fish. Good luck