DINO BATTLE!!

[Zakk]

Definite improvement today, plan to do 2 more days of dosing, then start the hi cap gfo back up to try and strangle the remaining PO4 out of the rocks.  Except for a slight stringy dusting on a few things (like the xenia, they are a magnet for this stuff) it's a marked improvement.  still on the 4 hour only regime, and still trying to keep PH elevated.  Fingers crossed that I have found a way of kicking this stuff while I bring my tank params as close to perfect as I can. 

Actually, except for a little tweaking on a few of the LED's (add just a touch more blue), I am quite happy with the look of the tank.  Oh aquascaping may not be what it would be if I did it all over again, but who is ever happy with their aquascaping?

 

[phi delt reefer]

keep dosing for another week IMO and maybe dont add the gfo for another month. Keep up with the water changes.  You wanna make sure all the stuff you cant see is also gone. 

 

[Zakk]

It's tough....phosphates were up to .19 today, so definite leaching from the substrate and rock I am going to have to guess, as almost nothing has gone in the tank (makeup water still tests at 0.00).  I don't want to just trade dinos off for HA and just be setting the clock back...

The thing about the water changes... it is said the trace elements from the salt mix can fuel them, and I certainly saw that firsthand. 

 

[Krazykarl]

Let it ride out man, I just had a huge cyan outbreak and dinos all over my sand, rock and glass. I just kept up with cleaning my glass and letting my filter sock catch all the floating dead dino and I disnt even touch my cyano. I let it rock... Lasted two weeks and I didn't een do a water change. Got home yesterday after work and it was all gone... It eventually defeats itself. Good luck!
Cheers!

 

[Zakk]

Yeah, I did 6 days of peroxide, have reduced my lighting to 5 hours, and put the refugium light on the same schedule as the display tank (I had them alternating which meant 24 hours a day light).  They are still there, but a fraction of what they were.  Not all corals opening up, and even xenia seem about half as enthusiastic, but except for the missing firefish, everything seems alive.  I restarted the GFO and the bio pellets, and I think I'll just see how it goes.  I've yet to hear a good story about dinos just cycling themselves out, but I figure why let the water parameters slip when I had them so good, so I'll just stick with it as you said. 

 

[Zakk]

I tentatively think I may have it licked.

Today, for the first time in a month, all the corals opened up and were snot free.  Not even a dusting on the sand.  Green star polyps started growing again yesterday too, everything looks really good.  Current parameters:
ALK: 8.792 dKH
Ca: 370
Mg: 1350
NO2: 0
ORP:~350
NO3:~2
Salinity: 1.025
NH3: 0.00
PO4: 0.08

So I have to bring the calcium up a bit, and work on the PO4, but right now the tank looks as good as it ever has.  Not sure what actually knocked them out, but it does seem like the war can be won!