Some crazy sand algae (not cyano)

[Manose]

My tank has been a joy but just about 2 months ago I started getting a very very fast growing algae on the sand.(looks brown in tank light but its green)
Not a slimy like cyano or dinos but I can vacuum the sand and it will be back in a few hours.
No3 = Has been a constant 2.4-3.0 for months checked twice a week
Po4 = have been .02-.04 same for months
Past month been adding Microbacter clean every day skimmer off 4hours to give a algae some competition and have noticed a little improvement but not much.
2 days ago I cleaned my gyres and the flow doubled so my coral likes that but that crazy algae still persists.
I have 2 conchs that stir the sand pretty well along with nassarius snails and hermits everywhere, 7-8 nerites and a bunch of ceriths.
If I go in and scrub any of the green that gets on the lower rock, some of my coral hate it but comes right back out leading me to think it's not an algae.
Let me repeat out of the tank the algae is green not brown.
Stopped my daily water changes a week ago to see if that could have an impact on things and nothing confirmed as of yet.
Yes I do run activated carbon
Here are some pictures and maybe someone has some idea as I do not post much on the forum anymore but this is perplexing and would like more input.

 

[Saltyreef]

Diatom bloom.
In most cases its feeding off the built up nutrients in the sandbed and or from unrinsed sand loaded with silicate.

Just keep doing what youre doing if you dont like the look, possibly try to vacuum the sand with a python style gravel vac and eventually it will subside.

I know lots of people with dinos that would be jelous of your diatom population lol.

 

[Manose]

Diatom bloom.
In most cases its feeding off the built up nutrients in the sandbed and or from unrinsed sand loaded with silicate.

Just keep doing what youre doing if you dont like the look, possibly try to vacuum the sand with a python style gravel vac and eventually it will subside.

I know lots of people with dinos that would be jelous of your diatom population lol.

Did the python yesterday and it looked great till today after the light had been on for an hour and it was back asap

 

[Saltyreef]

Did the python yesterday and it looked great till today after the light had been on for an hour and it was back asap

Its going to be a daily thing for a while

 

[Manose]

So before adding the bacteria I took my filter floss out and cut off my skimmer and shut down my activated carbon reactor and believe it or not it some of the brown has disappeared :O
Wonder if my carbon(changed every 1.5months) and floss(changed daily) where causing the bacteria to not work as well.
I am baffled by this

 

[vetteguy53081]

Its diatoms, yes and diatoms are 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 end to 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.

 

[Manose]

So before adding the bacteria I took my filter floss out and cut off my skimmer and shut down my activated carbon reactor and believe it or not it some of the brown has disappeared :O
Wonder if my carbon(changed every 1.5months) and floss(changed daily) where causing the bacteria to not work as well.
I am baffled by this

So it’s pretty insane how fast low dose microbacter clean works when you take the floss out and shut off ac carbon.