Do diatoms mean my fish are in danger?

Unitylover · Mar 8, 2022

I think I have diatoms on my rocks. Ill get soe pics around 3 o clock

Hoodstream · Mar 8, 2022

Unitylover said:
the thing is, im not an adult, so no job ;Dead

Cash in on a birthday or a holiday! Rodi will save your life. Maybe explain it to your parents. I will always recommend them cause RODI or distilled is what you want but I’ve read that some of the elders in this hobby have had tanks their whole life with tap water. There is major benefits from switching but take good care of your tank and fish and make do with what you can. This forum also has a secret Santa I believe. Maybe ask around for a donation then or see if anyone is kind enough to donate to getting you one, unless your current situation doesn’t allow you to setup a rodi. Other than that you asked a question showing you care and that’s all anyone can ask for. Keep on asking and learning and upgrading as you go and be successful. Cheers!

Forscythe · Mar 8, 2022

Unitylover said:
Ive been using in my saltwater since setup. Just asking if anythings wrong with it, then Ill get a diff brand next time. I like getting chemicals that work in both fresh and salt (exception of my plant fertilizer)

I've used stress coat for freshwater, not salt. My understanding is that it works for both. There is also Seachem Prime. I've not used it but I've heard it works great in both fresh and saltwater.

Unitylover · Mar 8, 2022

Hoodstream said:
Cash in on a birthday or a holiday! Rodi will save your life. Maybe explain it to your parents. I will always recommend them cause RODI or distilled is what you want but I’ve read that some of the elders in this hobby have had tanks their whole life with tap water. There is major benefits from switching but take good care of your tank and fish and make do with what you can. This forum also has a secret Santa I believe. Maybe ask around for a donation then or see if anyone is kind enough to donate to getting you one, unless your current situation doesn’t allow you to setup a rodi. Other than that you asked a question showing you care and that’s all anyone can ask for. Keep on asking and learning and upgrading as you go and be successful. Cheers!

Tanks, I have a quadmester, and since my grades are top notch, I can get big prizes, My first fish and food, ($40 worth) came from good grades. Ive gotten the grades from the first 2 quarters, so I have 2 chances to get the RODI.

Unitylover · Mar 8, 2022

Forscythe said:
I've used stress coat for freshwater, not salt. My understanding is that it works for both. There is also Seachem Prime. I've not used it but I've heard it works great in both fresh and saltwater.

Since prime might be better (if it also detoxifies metals), Ill get it when I run out of API stress coat

Unitylover · Mar 8, 2022

I guess I just have to deal with diatoms for the time being, as its not dangerous for the fish. Ill scrub it and just wait till I get an RODI. Also is lighting a cause of diatoms? I use 6500k, and waiting to get a light with a 10000k function from amazon sometime this month

Forscythe · Mar 8, 2022

Unitylover said:
Since prime might be better (if it also detoxifies metals), Ill get it when I run out of API stress coat

In the end, RODI is my go-to instead of using chemicals. As you continue into this hobby, you will make many changes/upgrades. You're on the right path so far.

Unitylover · Mar 8, 2022

Forscythe said:
In the end, RODI is my go-to instead of using chemicals. As you continue into this hobby, you will make many changes/upgrades. You're on the right path so far.

Im planning to get RODI, its just that I thought most units were $100, so that was a no-no.

Unitylover · Mar 8, 2022

Im also really hyped for the light, as I only wanted it because theres a Very close LFS that has beautiful $10 corals

Forscythe · Mar 8, 2022

Unitylover said:
Im planning to get RODI, its just that I thought most units were $100, so that was a no-no.

I understand completely reefing is still do-able without rodi.
As for diatoms, what kind of clean up crew (CUC) do you have? Snails will helps eat it up

Unitylover · Mar 8, 2022

Forscythe said:
I understand completely reefing is still do-able without rodi.
As for diatoms, what kind of clean up crew (CUC) do you have? Snails will helps eat it up

I had 2 hermits, but 1 day, the smaller one dissapeared. So we essentially have one. next time when I go to get the corals from that LFS in a week or two, maybe three, Ill try to get a snail or two, maybe another hermit

Tamberav · Mar 8, 2022

Unitylover said:
oh is that great value distilled? great value distilled has an estimated ph of 5, which is a bit low

No, that is fine. pH of RODI is 5-7. When you mix up salt, it will rise as it will be buffered. The pH of the pure water isn't even important.

FYI you can not measure pH of distilled or RODI with a pH meter. It will be wrong.

I used distilled for years.

Unitylover · Mar 8, 2022

Tamberav said:
No, that is fine. pH of RODI is 5-7. When you mix up salt, it will rise as it will be buffered. The pH of the pure water isn't even important.

FYI you can not measure pH of distilled or RODI with a pH meter. It will be wrong.

I used distilled for years.

Ik, its estimated PH popped up on a google search

ApoIsland · Mar 8, 2022

Unitylover said:
the thing is, im not an adult, so no job ;Dead

You only have to be 14 to work in most places. I started at that age and never looked back. The independence, experience and work ethic you get from making your own money at a young age is invaluable.

To your main question about diatoms - I have had them constantly for 10 years as I use a lot of tap water during water changes myself. They can irritate come corals but they come through eventually.

I stick with tap as I don't like the thought of all the waste water generated from rodi units. It does help that I do have a decent mountain source for fairly clean water though. If you live in the city it might not be the same for you.

Unitylover · Mar 8, 2022

ApoIsland said:
You only have to be 14 to work in most places. I started at that age and never looked back. The independence, experience and work ethic you get from making your own money at a young age is invaluable.

To your main question about diatoms - I have had them constantly for 10 years as I use a lot of tap water during water changes myself. They can irritate come corals but they come through eventually.

I stick with tap as I don't like the thought of all the waste water generated from rodi units. It does help that I do have a decent mountain source for fairly clean water though. If you live in the city it might not be the same for you.

I live in suffolk county, I prefer our tap water over bottled water lol

Tamberav · Mar 8, 2022

Unitylover said:
Ik, its estimated PH popped up on a google search

When you add salt and mix it up to 1.025 or such... pH will be somewhere 7.8-8.2 likely, depending on carbon dioxide in your home. It will rise and fall different times of the day as well. Peak PH during peak light and lower at night.

Distilled is 100% acceptable to use and just as good as RODI. The only downside is you haul to haul jugs of water and costs more over time.

Preference to tap water to drink doesn't mean anything for a reef tank. It's minerals and additives that taste good... pure water tastes pretty gross... that is why they add minerals to some distilled waters.

It's fine to use tap if you want to... but it also could be the cause of the uglies in the tank and they may never dissipate with tap. Everyone's tap is different.

Dbichler · Mar 8, 2022

I used tap for the first 5 years of reefing and did fine with a tds of 147 from the tap. Did have algae but with enough clean up crew it was manageable. You don’t know what those 147 are though is the problem. Save up it is definitely something you want.