Diatoms HELP!!

[EMP21]

I can’t seem to get rid of Diatoms. The tank has been running for 6 months and have been dealing with them for about 1.5 months now. I have a 40 breeder. Phosphates are about .25 and nitrates are about 20. From everything I’ve read it’s silicates in the water. I have a 4 stage RODI unit I have used since setup. I have turned the lights off for a week, they go away, and then come right back. They will also disappear on the sand at night and then come back once the lights are back on. Just the sand bed though. I have scrubbed the rocks and glass right before a water change. I’ve tried microbacter7, clean up crew, copepods, UV sterilizer and nothing seems to keep them away. I have no corals currently. I was hoping to just ride it out, but I feel like they’re just not going away. I have 2 clowns and a small tang. That’s my current stocking. Any help would be greatly appreciated

 

[Gumbies R Us]

What does your CUC consist of?
Have you tried vacuuming the sand?

 

[EMP21]

What does your CUC consist of?
Have you tried vacuuming the sand?

There

What does your CUC consist of?
Have you tried vacuuming the sand?

CUC consists of 10 Astraea snails, about 4 blue leg hermits, and 1 emerald crab. Yes have tried scrubbing the rocks and then I will vacuum the sand bed during a WC. I do 25% every week

 

[get-salty]

Looks like your filtration is a HOB filter?
Is adequate for your tank size?
Any powerheads in the tank? if you do, i'd crank it up on high.

 

[EMP21]

Looks like your filtration is a HOB filter?
Is adequate for your tank size?
Any powerheads in the tank? if you do, i'd crank it up on high.

Yes it’s an AC 70. I have a Jebao DMP 10 on 100% and another powerhead on the other side pointed up for water surface agitation.

 

[commod0re]

Diatoms are normal, they’re consuming silicates and will mostly die off when they’re done

If you really want to fight them you could try dumping a bunch of copepods in, make sure to add phytoplankton every 2-3 days for them too

 

[commod0re]

Also if you’re using tap water get a RODI filter

 

[get-salty]

Also if you’re using tap water get a RODI filter

He has a 4 stage

 

[commod0re]

He has a 4 stage

Thanks, somehow I missed that when I read it the first time, in that case disregard that comment lol

 

[get-salty]

Thanks, somehow I missed that when I read it the first time, in that case disregard that comment lol

no worries

I often think faster than i can type on a keyboard. i find myself editing all the time !

 

[serval]

I can’t seem to get rid of Diatoms. The tank has been running for 6 months and have been dealing with them for about 1.5 months now. I have a 40 breeder. Phosphates are about .25 and nitrates are about 20. From everything I’ve read it’s silicates in the water. I have a 4 stage RODI unit I have used since setup. I have turned the lights off for a week, they go away, and then come right back. They will also disappear on the sand at night and then come back once the lights are back on. Just the sand bed though. I have scrubbed the rocks and glass right before a water change. I’ve tried microbacter7, clean up crew, copepods, UV sterilizer and nothing seems to keep them away. I have no corals currently. I was hoping to just ride it out, but I feel like they’re just not going away. I have 2 clowns and a small tang. That’s my current stocking. Any help would be greatly appreciated

I had a rather long diatom stage with a new tank I started in July last year. After about 3 months I did 3 things that seemed to work: I reduced the photo period to 11 hours from 12.
I added copepods once a month. I bought a diamond sand sifting goby. No more diatoms.

 

[EMP21]

Diatoms are normal, they’re consuming silicates and will mostly die off when they’re done

If you really want to fight them you could try dumping a bunch of copepods in, make sure to add phytoplankton every 2-3 days for them too

I’ve tried that as well. I bought a gallon from copepodsforsale.com and phyto. Have dose every couple days for a couple weeks now, and it’s gotten worse with my lights on. I know they’re normal, for the ugly stage, but I didn’t get them until about 4 months in and have had them ever since. Trying to be patient, just feel like there’s no end in sight with them lol

 

[commod0re]

I’ve tried that as well. I bought a gallon from copepodsforsale.com and phyto. Have dose every couple days for a couple weeks now, and it’s gotten worse with my lights on. I know they’re normal, for the ugly stage, but I didn’t get them until about 4 months in and have had them ever since. Trying to be patient, just feel like there’s no end in sight with them lol

Yeah I get that. Hang in there, trying too hard to get rid of them can make them stick around even longer by just delaying how long it takes them to finish up all the silicates. As long as they aren’t bothering the corals too much I would just let it run it’s course

 

[EMP21]

I had a rather long diatom stage with a new tank I started in July last year. After about 3 months I did 3 things that seemed to work: I reduced the photo period to 11 hours from 12.
I added copepods once a month. I bought a diamond sand sifting goby. No more .

Yeah I get that. Hang in there, trying too hard to get rid of them can make them stick around even longer by just delaying how long it takes them to finish up all the silicates. As long as they aren’t bothering the corals too much I would just let it run it’s course

Sounds good. I’ve been pretty patient so far. I wanted to get some corals, but have been dealing with this outbreak and have held off. Would it be ok to add some corals and just wait for the diatoms to die off?

 

[get-salty]

adding corals arent going to hurt it. but i'd wait. one thing at a time..

 

[commod0re]

Definitely fine to get some corals in there now yes, but, take it slow, add 1 frag per week at most for now

 

[EMP21]

Definitely fine to get some corals in there now yes, but, take it slow, add 1 frag per week at most for now

Sounds good. Will do. Thank you

 

[Fish Fan]

At 6 months old it's quite possible that these are not diatoms, but rather dinoflagellates or a combination of both. Dinos in particular can be more difficult to deal with than other pest algae. Here's some addition info on Dinos that may help:

Beating Dinoflagellates: A Complete Guide

I'd like to give my perspective on how I approach dinoflagellates in reef tanks. They can be challenging to treat and release a lot of toxins. I personally dealt with dinos several times in the past, so I've gained a lot of hands-on experience. I've done a lot of research on them, too. Here's...

www.reef2reef.com

#reefsquad what do you guys think?

 

[tbrown]

I can’t seem to get rid of Diatoms. The tank has been running for 6 months and have been dealing with them for about 1.5 months now. I have a 40 breeder. Phosphates are about .25 and nitrates are about 20. From everything I’ve read it’s silicates in the water. I have a 4 stage RODI unit I have used since setup. I have turned the lights off for a week, they go away, and then come right back. They will also disappear on the sand at night and then come back once the lights are back on. Just the sand bed though. I have scrubbed the rocks and glass right before a water change. I’ve tried microbacter7, clean up crew, copepods, UV sterilizer and nothing seems to keep them away. I have no corals currently. I was hoping to just ride it out, but I feel like they’re just not going away. I have 2 clowns and a small tang. That’s my current stocking. Any help would be greatly appreciated

What is the TDS reading on the water coming out of the RODI? I was reading 1-2 TDS and started seeing Diatoms. I stopped using the RO and the Diatoms slowly went away.

This probably won't be your solution as most municipal water sources have quality you may not want to put in your reef, but there's a potential it's definitely past the time to change your RO membrane and DI resins.

 

[serval]

I had a rather long diatom stage with a new tank I started in July last year. After about 3 months I did 3 things that seemed to work: I reduced the photo period to 11 hours from 12.
I added copepods once a month. I bought a diamond sand sifting goby. No more .

Yeah I get that. Hang in there, trying too hard to get rid of them can make them stick around even longer by just delaying how long it takes them to finish up all the silicates. As long as they aren’t bothering the corals too much I would just let it run it’s course

Sounds good. I’ve been pretty patient so far. I wanted to get some corals, but have been dealing with this outbreak and have held off. Would it be ok to add some corals and just wait for the diatoms to die off?

It’s possible that my tank recovered sooner due to a lot of lbs of live ocean rock and sand.