TL;DR What are the chances that I could toss some Coralline algae into this tank that only gets natural light and have it out-compete diatoms on my rock?
I've got diatoms, and I don't think they are going anywhere because of my setup. It is a new fish-only tank (2 months old), so this is to be expected. I'm looking for something that will out-compete the diatoms or will help lessen their spread while not adding a skimmer or reactor. Here is way too much information and some thoughts I've had plus some pictures below of the setup. I just did a water change and glass scrapping yesterday. I've only been in the saltwater tank hobby for about 6 months now, and I'm looking for suggestions or recommendations!
Tank Info
I've got diatoms, and I don't think they are going anywhere because of my setup. It is a new fish-only tank (2 months old), so this is to be expected. I'm looking for something that will out-compete the diatoms or will help lessen their spread while not adding a skimmer or reactor. Here is way too much information and some thoughts I've had plus some pictures below of the setup. I just did a water change and glass scrapping yesterday. I've only been in the saltwater tank hobby for about 6 months now, and I'm looking for suggestions or recommendations!
- I have been overfeeding lately, and I know this can cause diatom spikes. About a month ago, I noticed one clown had stringy white poo, which looked like signs of parasites. Since then, I have been feeding mysis with Focus and MetroPlex, but it doesn't appear to have been working, and now both clowns have it. This last week I stopped feeding mysis to see if that was a factor; apparently, sometimes mysis causes the white stringy poo. Not the case, so I dosed PraziPro today. Hoping to go back to normal (less) feeding once I know everyone is healthy again.
- I don't have much water movement in the tank at the moment since it's just the two clowns. I was thinking about adding a small pump to add flow. I've read that this can help stop algae from being able to settle.
- I've also contemplated adding a snail to my cleanup crew to see if it could munch on the diatoms on the rock and glass. The conch is amazing at keeping my sandbed turned and clean. (On the rare occasion that things are too clean, I have algae pellets for him to make sure he doesn't starve, but it hasn't been an issue since I got him.)
- Patience? Will just waiting it out really work? Without any filtration like a skimmer, I feel like I'm just always going to have some diatoms, and lets be real, it's ugly.
- I love the idea of getting some coralline algae to grow in this tank, especially if it will push out the diatoms. I read up on the needs of coralline algae, and I'm not 100% sure if it would grow in a tank with only natural light. I have an H80 Tuna Flora Refugium LED Kessil that I could use, but I don't really want to encourage anything else to grow. Maybe this wouldn't be a problem since I used dry rock? And if the diatoms are growing with just the natural light, then wouldn't that be a sign that it might be enough for Coralline? I haven't been able to find anything solid on this topic. Coralline algae also seems to be hit or miss with people. I think I would need to make sure the tank temp is between 78-80 for it.
Tank Info
- 10-gallon Waterbox setup 3/1/21
- Dry rock (Reef Saver)
- CaribSea Live Sand
- Cobalt neo-therm heater
- Kracken lid
- No water movement except for the pump the tank came with
- No lights, but it gets indirect sunlight (MN)
- MarineLand Bio-filter ball media
- MarinePure Sphere Bio-Filter Media
- 2 filter sponges
- Fish & Inverts only
- 2 Domino clownfish
- 1 strawberry (fighting) conch
- Parameters
- ~77.8 degrees F
- 34 ppt salinity
- 0.09 ppm phosphate
- 7.87 pH (low, but both our tanks sit around here regardless of increased airflow from outside or additional flow)
- Maintenance schedule
- New filter fleece weekly
- Large water change (15-20%) every 1 & 1/2 weeks with light sand sifting, toothbrush scrubbing, and rinsing of filter sponges
- Small water change (5%) every week
- Tunze ATO - not currently working but should be up in the next week