Dino ID RD Reef Dino Battle Planner Species-aware, conservative dino plan Most plans: 2–6 weeks 1 Identify 2 Tank 3 Nutrients 4 Equipment 5 Symptoms Step 1 of 5 What are you looking at? No microscope ID? Leave it as Unknown — confidence will adjust automatically. Suspected ID Unknown / not confirmed Large-cell Amphidinium Small-cell Amphidinium Ostreopsis Prorocentrum Coolia Chrysophytes (golden algae) Diatoms Cyanobacteria Euglena Amphidinium hides in the sandbed; Ostreopsis lifts into the water column at night. Different species need different plans. Microscope confidence No microscope ID Low confidence Medium confidence High confidence Tell us about the tank Volume (gallons) Age (months) Reef type Mixed reef SPS dominant LPS dominant Soft coral Fish only New tank / cycling Sets the safe nutrient targets for your stock list. Sandbed Yes (standard) Shallow Deep No (bare bottom) Lighting hours per day Peak white light % Whites, reds, and greens at peak. Blues are not counted here. Carbon source dosing Not dosing Vodka Vinegar NOPOX (commercial NO3/PO4 reducer) Other Carbon sources lower NO3 and PO4 — exactly what dinos exploit. We may suggest pausing. Currently dosing amino acids or coral foods Nutrient readings Recommended These are the highest-leverage values in this whole plan. If you can test before continuing, do. Nitrate (ppm) Phosphate (ppm) Nitrate test kit Phosphate test kit Currently dosing silicates Some phosphate tests can read low when silicates are dosed. If your PO4 reads near zero, verify with a second kit. What is already running? UV sterilizer available UV currently running Activated carbon running Skimmer running GFO / phosphate remover running GFO = granular ferric oxide; chemically pulls phosphate down. Recent blackout attempted Largest recent water change % Recently added Bacteria Phyto Copepods All of the above What do you see? Pick everything that matches. Symptoms refine the likely species when no microscope ID is provided. What it looks like Brown dusty coating on sand Brown stringy mats Long strands with trapped bubbles Short strings on sand Golden / yellow coating Red mat or blanket Green mat Visible oxygen bubbles in algae or film Where you see it Mostly on the sand Mostly on the rocks On the glass On corals How it behaves Disappears at night Visibly worse after lights on Snails dying Fish or coral stress ← Back Next → Build my battle plan → Reading the tank… Try again Print or save as PDF Start over
