omarortiz Posted May 25, 2012 Share Posted May 25, 2012 So, I came home from the meeting recently and was greeted by a Vortech blinking red and green. I looked in my tank and I saw that I was having a bloom of dinos. (flame) The bloom seems to coincide with a change in media that seems to have knocked out almost all of the cyano. I think I would trade cyano over dinos IMO. They are a PITA. Anyhow, I was wondering if anyone uses the EcoSmart modes and what their experience with them is. I had been using reef crest (Yellow 1) but I am trying the others to get stuff stirred up and down into the sump. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tanktop74 Posted May 25, 2012 Share Posted May 25, 2012 omar, check out this link... http://community.ecotechmarine.com/ecotechmarine/topics/my_vortech_pump_is_periodically_stopping_and_blinking_red_on_the_controller_how_do_i_fix_this hope it helps some! Beth Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tanktop74 Posted May 25, 2012 Share Posted May 25, 2012 omar, check out this link... http://community.ecotechmarine.com/ecotechmarine/topics/my_vortech_pump_is_periodically_stopping_and_blinking_red_on_the_controller_how_do_i_fix_this hope it helps some! Beth Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
omarortiz Posted May 25, 2012 Author Share Posted May 25, 2012 Thanks Beth. That's interesting. It was definitely not a false reading though. There were dino boogers all over. I cleaned it up and it was good to go again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
omarortiz Posted May 25, 2012 Author Share Posted May 25, 2012 Just a little update... After reducing the lighting, I have been knocking the snot loose for a couple of days and using the nutrient export mode. It seems to be helping. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Islandoftiki Posted May 26, 2012 Share Posted May 26, 2012 How much did you reduce the lighting? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
omarortiz Posted May 26, 2012 Author Share Posted May 26, 2012 I have 36 LEDs. 3 strings of 12. 2 blue strings and 1 white string. I turned 1 blue string off, and dialed the white down to about 10 percent. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peligro Posted May 27, 2012 Share Posted May 27, 2012 I'm still battling my dinoflagellate. Have been for about a week. Added extra flow, turned all lights off for 4 days, on the forth day I cleaned the back sump, cleaned return pumps, took all my rock out scrubbed it. The ones with coral I took a soft basting brush to. Next Ill have to siphon my sand. But I haven't seen a lot of it come back, any that noticed I powerheaded it, and sucked it up with my turkey baster. With good flow it makes it hard for the dinoflagellate to grow, unless you have an abundance of nutrients in your water, Phosphates. What process are you using to rid yourself of this stuff? HTC EVO Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
omarortiz Posted May 28, 2012 Author Share Posted May 28, 2012 I am out of the woods, but I still have some dinos in some spots. Everyone seems to have a different treatment plan. What's working for me is: A reduction in light though I never shut off the light entirely. A reduction in feeding (the fish are very unhappy with me) Increased flow from the return pump Dialing in the skimmer to skim as wet as possible so that I empty a full cup and clean it every 12 hours. Periodically knocking stuff loose in the tank so it can get into the sump. Putting the Vortech on nutrient export mode Rinsing off my media bags with RO to get buildup off (Phosban, purigen, carbon and Chemipure elite) What I didn't try is: Vodka dosing or anything else that increases bacteria in the tank Replace my media Stop water changes Remove things to scrub them outside of the tank Remove my sanded Raise pH to 8.5 In the end, I really was counting on the Vortech and skimmer to do the heavy lifting, and they seem to have gotten it done, though I have some patches of boogers here and there, but they look kind of dead. The snails seem to eat the dinos as well so they never really got completely out of hand. It would have been much harder if I had the toxic dinos that kill snails. Of course, the dinos could have just run their course... DOH! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J-Dog Posted June 2, 2012 Share Posted June 2, 2012 Read up on dosing "hydrogen peroxide".....worked wonders on my dino's. I have an entire thread on my experience with it, so take a look if u are interested. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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