Dinoflagellates!!!!!!

Here's what it looks like today some spots came right back. But for the most part looks contained. I'll siphon more out tonight.
Here some pictures.

 

My salinity is 1.022 is this fine or should I raise it?

 

For a tank with corals you should be around 1.025-1.027.

Currently your Sg is too low IMO.

Go slow raising the SG, I would just let the evaporation and a light top off with SW do the trick. It's much easier on corals and fish going down in SG, to go back up you have to go much slower.

 

Really? Guess I learned something new today

Agree though, perpahs filling your ATO half with fresh water, half with new saltwater, and let the ATO bring the salinity up. Measure twice a day and empty the reservoir when you hit 1.026 though!

 

Osmotic pressure.

The higher the SG the quicker fluids move out of cells and into the surrounding fluid to make the solution isotonic, even though you really never have an isotonic solution in a SW tank.

The lower the SG the fluids move back into cells to dilute that solution.

Osmosis and semipermeable membranes and all.

This is why FW dips and baths are an effective treatment against most parasites. FW rushes into the more hypertonic solution found with in the cell and the cell burst.

Sorry for the hi-jack.

 

I followed Coraillines technic and I siphoned my entire sand bed again and removed pretty much any Dinos that where visible seriously I do not see anymore. Change my filter socks cleaned sponges and skimmer and with some luck hopefully i wont see this stuff again. Still running a 6 hour photo period with 1 hour actinics at beggining and end and 20k setting at 50% intensity. I'll update tomorrow see how it goes.

 

I have read a few times that freshwater tips will kill algae. For example, say you are removing GHA with tweezers. They say everytime you grab some GHA with the tweezers, to rinse them in fresh water to kill the algae and spores that are on the tweezers. This is not the least bit logical. Plant cells have cell walls, which will not shrivel when placed in a hypotonic solution (as animal cells, with cell membranes only, will). This has always bothered me.

Sorry, i don't want to hijack the thread either, but at least its something to talk about as we wait for OlopezNYC's results! ;D

Hey coralline, you aren't by any chance in the science/biology field (in school or your line of work) are you? This post makes me think that you have at least taken a general biology course (college level). I am in a doctoral program for molecular biology, and I just love to talk about this stuff (just as much as I love discussing reef tanks)! Talking about the two subjects combined would be my ideal! But it seems that most people in this hobby are not in the science field.

 

Honestly OlopezNYC, if I were you, I would just get a move on with the black out. It is not going to do much harm (if any) to the corals and livestock in your tank. In other words, the worst case scenario is that it doesn't work. Additionally, if the dinos are producing toxins that are harming your livestock, than waiting to do the blackout is actually going to be more dangerous than just getting it over with. I am fairly confident that we are correct with the Dino ID.

 

People on these forums have a wide and diverse range of interests and experiences including in a range of sciences. It is never wise to assume too much.

 

I'm just experimenting I figure by exporting most of it hopefully I can beat it this way, if I see that it comes back up then ill proceed with 3 black out periods. Being that this stuff releases toxins,

Should I be running Activated Carbon?
I've asked this question a couple if times I yet to get an answer......