Another update. I have Dino’s still and absolutely hate them!! You wouldn’t believe me if I told you how long I thought about building this current tank. It was literally over ten years. I broke my last tank down in 2010 and thought if this one ever since. I thought of everything. I would continually check in with the hobby and see what’s new, methods, equipment etc. I wanted a nice NSA scape and was set on dry rock as to not introduce any unwanted pests. While I know you can get Dino’s with a live rock tank, I believe a dry rock/dry sand tank is like a welcome mat for these little f***ers.
I have read both the Dino threads on R2R completely. Especially the LCA thread. I have large cell amphidinium, confirmed via microscope. I decided to go with the dosing silica method to encourage a diatom bloom to eventually outcompete the Dino’s. I run a UV although it doesn’t really help with LCA as they do not go into water column. They stay mostly on my sand and I have some on my rocks. By “mostly” on my sand I mean they cover 98% of it. It is gross. I first started my attack by trying to balance and keep stable nitrate and phosphate numbers. Then started dosing silica. This is a slow process and I am about 6 weeks into it. My last look under the microscope shows some diatoms but not many. It is still 95% Dino’s. They swim around on the slide like they have no care in the world!
I have decided that I am going to remove my sand. I will do it slowly over the next month. I am currently building two wrasse beds for my sand sleeping wrasses. When they are done I will start removing sand. I have tried everything recommended to fight LCA. I started with easing temps and adding Iron. Jake Adam’s and Chris Meckley mentioned that this works. I figured it was easy and worth a shot. It definitely doesn’t work. It has been proven that Iron fuels Dino’s. The temp change also did nothing. Blackouts also do nothing. The Dino’s come right back. LCA has been proven to go into “cyst” mode for over a month. I have tried siphoning the sand. Siphoning through a 5 micron sock. Doesn’t do anything. I have tried leaving the sand/tank alone and hoping the system would just right itself as the micro biome develops. I have dosed both a tube and dormant bacteria. This does not work. I’m sure it helps the system overall however does nothing to fight off the Dino’s. Also worth noting that everyone who doses bacteria while trying to fight Dino’s is playing a back and forth game. Keeping balanced nutrient levels is key. In my case that means adding nitrate and phosphate, not trying to lower. So adding MB7 for example is counterproductive as that is nitrifying bacteria.
I will update with how the sand removal works. Funny thing is that my SPS and LPS are thriving. Even the Dino’s on the rocks don’t bother them at all. SPS will continue to encrust no problem. The Dino’s do bother my Zoas. They will completely cover them. I have to baste them off twice a day, and even then they are just slowly melting away. I have a few Zoas that are in the shade under rocks and these are happy as the Dino’s love light. I have never been more envious of people white sand. I absolutely hate the look of a bare bottom tank, but I am willing to try it. Hopefully after sand removal and basting the rocks every other day or so a switch will flick on the tank and the Dino’s will recede. I’m hoping to eventually add sand back but I am not in a rush to do so. I should also mention that I did add established live rock to the system. From two different sources. I’m sure it helped my micro biome but it did not help with Dino’s. The Dino’s on the rock cover up my coraline and that has even started to die off.