Diatoms or Dino’s

[Jimbo]

Diatoms or Dino’s? Tank is 8 months old. Brown stuff ( powdery, no strings or bubbles) shows up on sand only during lights on. I had an ATI/ICP test that showed 106.1ug/l Silicate in RO/DI Is that enough to feed it? I am going to add an extra DI cartridge to my RO system ( on order )
Nitrates test at 7 and phosphates .04 on Hanna meters.

 

[shadow_k]

Yes diatoms , the should go away on its own once the silicate is gone

 

[vetteguy53081]

Appears to be diatom but can you post pic with White lighting to confirm ?

 

[Jimbo]

Here

 

[Lavey29]

Mine does the same after water changes. ICP showed silicate in my RODI too. Apparently they make a specific silicate cartridge that can be added to your RODI filter set up.

 

[Nonya]

Here's a good source of info on how to determine whether it's diatoms or dino, and how to deal with them:

Diatoms Vs Dinoflagellates (Reef Tank) Identification and Treatment | Reef Tank Resource

A common problem in aquarist's reef aquariums is the presence of brownish algae coating everything from the sand to the live rock to the glass. It can look

reeftankresource.com

 

[Jimbo]

Appears to be diatom but can you post pic with White lighting to confirm ?

Better pics hopefully

 

[J's]

Diatoms or Dino’s? Tank is 8 months old. Brown stuff ( powdery, no strings or bubbles) shows up on sand only during lights on. I had an ATI/ICP test that showed 106.1ug/l Silicate in RO/DI Is that enough to feed it? I am going to add an extra DI cartridge to my RO system ( on order )
Nitrates test at 7 and phosphates .04 on Hanna meters.

Those are diatoms. Once silicate is consumed they should go away.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Diatoms which is a brown algae that typically appear in a reef tank that has just completed its cycle but they can also appear in an established reef tank. They can cover sand, rock, pumps, glass, you name it. Diatoms look ugly but in most cases they are harmless so the key is to not panic when they appear.
Diatoms feed mainly off of silicates but also consume dissolved organic compounds, phosphate and nitrates. Unfiltered tap water can contain silicates and is a good way to jump start a bloom if you use it to mix salt or to replace water that evaporated from the tank. The best way to prevent this from happening is to filter water through a RODI unit, although you can still get a diatom bloom when using RODI if the cartridge that removes silicates expires.
diatoms are typically harmless to a captive reef and can be beaten once their food source expires. Once you put the kibosh on the source, the outbreak should last a couple of weeks so just be patient and it will pass. For major outbreaks you may want to consider the three day blackout. Diatoms are easily wiped from the glass with a mag float, a turkey baster or a toothbrush can access other areas of the tank. Be prepared for them to re-establish themselves quickly, they are likely to be able to resettle and have exponential growth rates.
To prevent their return, practice good aquarium husbandry by doing regular water changes, keep the substrate clean, don’t overfeed the fish, ensure your skimmer is running at an optimal level and rinse out filter socks and sponges on a regular basis.
Some cleaner crew to help control it are : Cerith snails, Nerite snails and Trochus snails and also Astraea snails are effective at removing diatoms.

 

[Jimbo]

So I’ve got a silica buster DI cartridge from Spectrapure and I added another DI after it in case this is caused by the make up water.
Anything else to do or let it run it’s course?