Diatoms, Dino's or Cyano...or All the Above! Please share any thoughts

[Birddog]

I'm at a loss and thought I knew my stuff, but I don't know what I have or how to eliminate to scourge that's driving me crazy on my sand bed. I thought this stuff was diatoms, but in a few places it appears purple like cyano and in most areas there are small bubbles sitting on top of the stuff.

I feed my fish 1x daily, my corals 2-3 times per week and my parameters as of yesterday are as follows;
Nitrate - 1.5 ppm
Phosphate - .06 ppm
Ca - 430 ppm
Mg -1520 ppm
dKH - 7.7

If I run my tank clean (.5 ppm nitrate or less) the stuff looks the same and my corals suffer. I have replaced the media in my BRS 5 stage filter system very recently and truth be told I'm frustrated. Typically I change 10% water weekly, but thinking this may be a problem I am now on day 10 with no water change and seeing nothing. If I vacuum the sand bed it comes back with vengeance! Any insight to my problem from a friend here would make my day and I am grateful!

 

[twilliard]

Diatoms is what you are seeing

 

[Birddog]

Diatoms is what you are seeing

Todd thank you for your reply... and suggestions, or will they just go away assuming that the will exhaust silicates and I do not disturb my sand bed!

 

[twilliard]

Well they will go away depending on your feeding dosing schedule.
I am actually growing red cyano to study its life cycle.
Its an odd one for sure. I have found that it loves amino acids.
Currently working on a feasible solution to this.

 

[Birddog]

Well they will go away depending on your feeding dosing schedule.
I am actually growing red cyano to study its life cycle.
Its an odd one for sure. I have found that it loves amino acids.
Currently working on a feasible solution to this.

I appreciate it Todd, I think I read in your thread on KNO3 dosing that Russ 265 stated "you are the man"... I couldn't agree more. Hope you have a pleasant evening!