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The tank has been running for about two and a half months and the nitrogen cycling finished about 6 weeks ago.How old is your tank?
Agree, using a term stage is what is happening. To many its unsightly but there are steps you can take if you want to reduce/control it. 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.
Thanks, at the moment I have a hermit crab, 2 nasssarius snails and 2 cowrie snails.Agree, using a term stage is what is happening. To many its unsightly but there are steps you can take if you want to reduce/control it. 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.
Some cleaner crew to help control it are : Cerith snails, Nerite snails and Trochus snails and also Astraea snails are effective at removing diatoms.