Diatoms? High phosphates?

JasTheReefer

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Just wondering is this diatoms or cyano? Some background-
Two month old tank (since it’s finished cycling) recently upgraded to Viperspectra lights from the lights than came with the tank. Already had what I thought was a diatom bloom, now since upgrading recently I have been scrubbing and cleaning this algae off my rocks only to have it show right back up.
I have a assortment of snails, around 8 hermit crabs. I have a fire fish, 2 clownfish and a diamond watchman goby. A handful of assortment of coral.
I tested the water on April 29th,
Phosphate- .25
Nitrate- 10ppm
Ph- 8.0

I decided I don’t want to be the type of reefer to chase numbers and such so it has been a month but I tested my water yesterday May 21 to find phosphates high.
Phosphates- .5
Nitrate- 10-20ppm
Ph- 8.2

I am using nothing but Ro/di water.
My protein skimmer is pulling out disgusting brown chunky stuff, I imagine that is a good thing. Just out of curiosity though, how do I lower my phosphates and is this diatoms? I know this is just part of new tank syndrome and the uglies, I just don’t want to let it get out of control and kill my corals which are already unhappy I’m assuming do to the phosphates.

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anemoneanatomy

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Is it clumpy, or is it kind of a thin film? If you mix up the sand, does it hang together or disintegrate into tons of tiny specks?
 
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JasTheReefer

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Is it clumpy, or is it kind of a thin film? If you mix up the sand, does it hang together or disintegrate into tons of tiny specks?
A thin film, it comes very easy, I do have a bit of hair algae on the one piece of live rock I bought, but all the rest comes out very easy and makes the tank look super dirty so I’d say tiny specks.
 
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JasTheReefer

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looks like brown diatoms to me, its very normal for a 2 month old tank.
I have been assuming but it just is not cutting back at all, been just taking over the tank for the past week or so. How long do diatoms last usually? I used all dry rock except for one piece of live rock I bought to bring some diversity into the tank.
 

Mr. Mojo Rising

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I have been assuming but it just is not cutting back at all, been just taking over the tank for the past week or so. How long do diatoms last usually? I used all dry rock except for one piece of live rock I bought to bring some diversity into the tank.
1-3 weeks, depending on your individual tank. Don't worry about it, it will die and go away on its own, its the easiest of the algae's to deal with.
 
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JasTheReefer

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1-3 weeks, depending on your individual tank. Don't worry about it, it will die and go away on its own, its the easiest of the algae's to deal with.
Thank you, what about the hair algae? Will it die off too just a part of the new tank syndrome? Or should I be focusing on that instead of the diatoms.
 

Mr. Mojo Rising

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hair algae is also part of new tank syndrome, it usually follows after the diatoms. Im sorry but that one is not so easy to get rid of
 

anemoneanatomy

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Hair algae is much more pesky. For now, try manual removal.

And yeah, if it "disintegrates" when you mess with what it's attached to, that's diatoms.

I think your phosphates listed in the OP are much higher than I'd like, and I also think you could do with about 2-3x the number of hermits. While you said you don't wanna chase numbers, all of these issues are inter-related. High phosphates inhibit coral growth (esp for corals that form calcium carbonate skeletons) and promote algae growth.

I think you need a better sand-sifting cleanup crew, hence the recommendation for more crabs.
 
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