Reef Chemistry Problem - need help

taintstick

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I would suggest changing your filter sock more often than that, I change my filter sock once every 2 days. Helps keep water clean and dusty mess off the glass. I think after a week of the same stuff running through the sock will cause these algae outbreaks. Like your feedings, you may do your water changes and not detect anything on tests, but you have leftover food sitting in that sock for a week! Not good for water to constantly run through. I have 6 filter socks, changing every other day. Once the sock isn't completely white for me, I change it.
 

taintstick

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Sorry but I don't run reactors of any kind, just a bag of carbon and a tiny bag of phosguard. That works for me just as good.
 

GoVols

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I'm about 100% sure it's diatoms but I always think of a new setup with them.
Diatoms are not algae so I'm not sure if something like a GFO reactor would knock them out like it does algae.
I always think about silica as fuel for diatoms and let them burn off on their own but I've never had a diatom bloom happen on a mature setup but I know it does happen.

So at this point I'm tagging along too. :)

It may be me next time who gets a mature setup diatom bloom so I want to learn what to do also :D
 

taintstick

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IMG_0750.JPG

This photo, ^^ shows the dirty sand just like yours. Hard to tell but the black sand should be standing out more.
IMG_0594.JPG

This photo, ^^ shows the black sand now. The combination of things I posted earlier worked. Took about a couple weeks to a month to work.
By the way, not trying to show off the Harli, it's just that I only had him for a short amount of time, enough to go through the phase.
 

taintstick

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IMG_0751.JPG

This is a screen cap of a video from a while back, going after one of the hundreds of Asterinas that WERE in my tank haha
BTW, solved the dirty sand issue... haha
Posted this in wrong thread, mods please remove
 

GoVols

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IMG_0750.JPG

This photo, ^^ shows the dirty sand just like yours. Hard to tell but the black sand should be standing out more.
IMG_0594.JPG

This photo, ^^ shows the black sand now. The combination of things I posted earlier worked. Took about a couple weeks to a month to work.
By the way, not trying to show off the Harli, it's just that I only had him for a short amount of time, enough to go through the phase.
lol
Show him off :D
I love it :)
 

taintstick

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Added MP40 for better flow and changed filter socks. Still running gfo. Any other suggestions?

I would suggest changing the filter sock every other day or other day and continue to spot scrub/clean. It's not going to happen overnight. Get some more CUC. That may be your most beneficial and natural way to rid it, let them chow down haha
 

GoVols

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I would suggest changing the filter sock every other day or other day and continue to spot scrub/clean. It's not going to happen overnight. Get some more CUC. That may be your most beneficial and natural way to rid it, let them chow down haha
+1
"It's not going to happen overnight"
 

Psneary

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I had/have some diatom issues (as my tank is fairly young, diatoms like to try coming back), I found if I gently vac the sand in stages or sections with each water change, then stir up the sand in sections between (gently and to maintain) along with running a sock in the sump, it goes away pretty quickly. A few weeks at most.
 

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