diablo30xp

I'd say your overfeeding, once a day should be plenty, if not every other day. What is your TDS of the RO/DI water? What test kits are you using, with twice a day feedings you should be showing something on the nitrates.

My tds is 2 and for the test kits are made by api i got at petsmart. Thx i will only feed them 1 time a day starting tomarrow then.

First, how are you sure it's dino's? They are very similar to cyno and sometimes get mis-identified. One way to verify it's dino, is usually they will go away entirely at night and the tank will be clear of them, but once the light comes back on they appear within minutes, IME. And if you stop all circulation in the tank, the affected areas appear to 'smoke' as they spread. Cyno will sometimes 'receed' a little at night, but it is usually still there. Also cyno is more robust than dino's, it will stay togather in a clump where dinos will turn to dust when disturbed.

I fought dino's for nearly 6 months. I tried everything from lights out, elevated PH, siphoning, sugar dosing..etc... what finally worked was a combo. I cut my lights down to 4 hours a day, and i actively siphoned them out everyday. I dripped kalk for my top-off water and I ran carbon and kept it fresh. Once i adopted this regimen they went away. I continued it for 2 more weeks after they where gone, then i slowly extended my lighting cycle over a few weeks. They did came back a year later but i was able to nip it early and it only took me a week to win.

thats exactly what it was it appeared to smoke. it disappears at night and back when light s are on i have been running lights on for 4 to 5 hours and syphoning and running carbon.

I thought cyano was a bacterial slime usually red to green mainly forming on the substrate?

I battled dino's for years before I even realized what they were. I finally got rid of them by using kalk to elevate my pH to 8.5 for about 3 weeks. Now as long as I use kalk in my top off and keep my pH at least 8.2 they don't come back. But if I let my pH get down to 8.0 they start to appear again.

Is there anything else i could use besides kalk. i never used it b4 and i don't feel real comfortable trying to use it just yet. ( not brave enough.....lol ) heard things can go wrong real fast if not done right. Hey thx though. My ph is currently now at 8.3 and have my lights running now for only 4 hrs a day.

I dont think running your lights at 4 hours a day will help with dinos. I did a full 5 day lights out with only ambient lighting in the house illuminating the tank. After the 5th day I started with only D/D lighting for 4 hours and slowly, slowly reaclimated the lighting back to my normal over 2-3 weeks. I have never seen dinos again and after the fifth day, My tank was completely algae clear including some other small pest algaes. Just my .02c

-Chris

would it be advisable to rinse off my live sand bed that i have and try to get out the dinos on the sand or would that be more harmful? i have had this sand bed in there for more than 4 months. Also its no more than 3" inches deep.

I know this is an old post but, I have a bad case of dinos and was wondering how you beat them.