Diatom bloom
- Thread starter Ziggy692
- Start date
glaspie69
Premium Member
is it a diatom bloom or is it an outbreak of red slime. Diatom is normally brownish in color and is found on the glass and maybe a small amount on the rockwork. Red slime on the other hand would cover the entire rockwork and sand with a thick reddish brown slime. These two are a completely different problems maybe a pic or two would help
KnoxvilleIa
New member
diatom
diatom
Just my 2 cents worth
but I bet it relates back to water quality, or water movement.
doing it again will get the same result, treat the cause not the problem.
it will go away
diatom
Just my 2 cents worth
but I bet it relates back to water quality, or water movement.
doing it again will get the same result, treat the cause not the problem.
it will go away
glaspie69
Premium Member
That's the number one worst thing to do, this hobby is just like every other problem in life, you deal with it, good and bad. If your dog gets fleas you don't shoot it in the head and get another one. You learn from your mistake and better prepare the next year. Dealing with these problems is what makes a good reef keeper good, knowing how to keep your cool and manage the problem until it's fixed. Hang in there, take some pics, and we'll find the problem and fix it. Help is here, J
annewayne
New member
Ziggy is my buddy 3 houses down, We checked everything out . negative on all. One thing he has done lately is go from PC's to T-5's , only thing i can think of is possible is that the bulb's are bad as this is a used fixture. Also 2 days prior to this is he added a phosphate reactor. He's been doing water changes with RO water no DI yet. I will tell him to take a pic for you guys cause we are at a lost. The stuff is not red cyno/slime, it brown bubbly crap that justs breaks up when you touch it. Thanks for your help......
glaspie69
Premium Member
sounds like a cyno, color wise cyno can be brown depending on the type. This could be caused by the difference in lights, the t-5's could be throwing the water column into a new bloom. How many power heads are in this tank, what types of power heads, what size tank is this and what is the total watts of the light compared to the old fixure and how long is the lighting cycle. Usually increasing the flow in a tank will help most algea problems like this.
annewayne
New member
He has a 55 , with 2 power heads and a 2 other filters with little flow,we were going to order 4 mjmods but apparently there sold out. His old lights i believe were 240 and the new ones are 324. He has cut down on the lighting cycle trying to curb the growth of this stuff. He added Chem-clean red slime remover with no effects, maybe it doesn't work on brown.
jtesdall
Premium Member
You said you checked everything out? What were the phoshates and nitrates? If you don't have a DI what is your TDS reading? Without a DI it should be around 20-30 I think. How old are the filters?
I agree with Jason, it sounds like Cyano, obviously the pics would help. How old is the tank, fish load, lbs of live rock, skimmer and stuff like this. Are you running a sump/refugium? Have the filters been cleaned.
If you added a phosphate reactor I assume the phosphates were high. What were they before and now. Cyano loves phosphates, without a DI you probably have them fairly. $35 from the filter guys gets you a DI and the club is going to do a bulk DI Resin and GFO (Phosphate reactor media) buy soon.
I had a problem with cyano at the beginning of the year. I concentrated at getting my RO/DI system up to par and added a phosphate reactor and the cyano is gone.
Jason is right, hang in there you can beat this.
I agree with Jason, it sounds like Cyano, obviously the pics would help. How old is the tank, fish load, lbs of live rock, skimmer and stuff like this. Are you running a sump/refugium? Have the filters been cleaned.
If you added a phosphate reactor I assume the phosphates were high. What were they before and now. Cyano loves phosphates, without a DI you probably have them fairly. $35 from the filter guys gets you a DI and the club is going to do a bulk DI Resin and GFO (Phosphate reactor media) buy soon.
I had a problem with cyano at the beginning of the year. I concentrated at getting my RO/DI system up to par and added a phosphate reactor and the cyano is gone.
Jason is right, hang in there you can beat this.
annewayne
New member
The nitrates checked out 0, his phosphate readings were a little high, now they are O, My TDS meter says it is 7-8 , his filter age is unknown, He's running a HOB fuge with cheato, he cleans filters once a month. His fish load load is 2 damsels,shrimp,serpent star. I believe the tank is 5 years old. Some of this might be inaccurate . Maybe he'll chime in tomorrow. Thanks for your input.. Wayne
glaspie69
Premium Member
I think that increasing the flow would help alot, not to push a sale but I've got three mj mods f/s if your looking. It sounds to me like a combo of a few things, the lighting upgrade, past phosphate issues and a lack of flow. The lighting just needs time to work itself out, the water column will catch up. The phosphate issue has been taken care of, but remember that it will take awhile to undo what has been done. People with hair algae issues always forget this tidbit of info, thinking that since the phosban reator is hooked up and phosphates read 0 on a test the hair algae should disappear. As for the flow, adding a few pumps should help remove dead spots and improve stability in the water column.
Take a hose and suck out as much cyano as you can and just watch your phosphates. Watch your feeding and test your water. Like what others have said, increase your flow.
I'm all too familiar with cyano. I almost gave up after a heater accident killed almost all of my corals. I had to syphon, run carbon and do water changes every 2 to 3 days to get my tank back into shape. Hang in there.
I'm all too familiar with cyano. I almost gave up after a heater accident killed almost all of my corals. I had to syphon, run carbon and do water changes every 2 to 3 days to get my tank back into shape. Hang in there.
jtesdall
Premium Member
Have you calibrated your TDS meter? Getting to .4 (I didn't know TDS meters would measure in 1/10 of a ppm) without a DI is amazing. What TDS do you read going in?
The again if nitrates and phosphates are both 0, flow would seem to be the best option.
I am ordering materials to make maxi-mods this week. I am ordering way more than I need because that is the way it comes. I work in Des Moines if you are interested in splitting the order. PM me if interested.
The again if nitrates and phosphates are both 0, flow would seem to be the best option.
I am ordering materials to make maxi-mods this week. I am ordering way more than I need because that is the way it comes. I work in Des Moines if you are interested in splitting the order. PM me if interested.
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