Diatoms are killing me lately

[larrysaltisfun]

Feeding pinches of Vitalis pellet Nori and two frozen cubes daily consisting of PE mysis rods, food, and spirulina and plankton

 

[larrysaltisfun]

@Mr. Mojo Rising

 

[Reefer Matt]

Looks like hair algae. I’d scrub the rocks with a toothbrush and siphon out the long stuff. Then a 40% water change with same parameters and add more snails and/or an urchin or two.

 

[Bear22]

I too have been running into diatom issues that are a bit head scratching:

Using weekly Rowaphos (sp).
I have a fresh Spectrapure DI silicate cartridge in place.
I run an oversize Eheim UV device.

My measured PO4 levels (Hanna) usually run between .08 and .12.
My measured NO3 levels (salifert) are usually around 2-5ppm.

Are low nitrates a possible cause (anecdotally)?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Low nitrate does not contribute to diatoms.

 

[Jimbo327]

Pretty simple, just put a filter sock in the sump, and pull a syphon with tubing in the display going directly to the filter sock...and start sucking the green hair algae away. You should be able to clean up most of your tank in a few hours. It'll take some dedication, but if you can keep knocking it back...it'll eventually run out of steam...and hopefully your fish/cuc can take over.

If you already use chemi-clean, then you may be open to using chemicals. Then if that is the case, you can use fluconazole for gha as well. But you need to keep it in your tank for 4 weeks.

 

[Waldek M.]

On a different note, I have a question: is there a reliable at-home test for the presence of silicon in water? I ask because I have a Salifert test that always reads zero, even with artificially created concentrations.