Diatom help.

[zaitmi]

Hello guys,

i have 10 gallon fowlr tank, 6 months old, i had one banana wrasse which vanished 2 weeks so i tried to find it by searching my sand with my hand so i searched whole sand but could not find it after that i am facing diatom bloom in my tank, though my diatom bloom was over within 2 months but this started again after disturbing the sand. Could you please tell me how to get rid of it. Its from last 1.5 month.

Current stock 1 picasso small 1 platinum small and 1 red firefish.

 

[mcgyvr]

Just wait it out.. It will go away again..

 

[ReeferNoob4ever]

Same thing happened to me, I had a diatom bloom, it went away. Then I put in an engineer goby that started tearing up the substrate where I couldn't siphon and got another round of diatoms. Now it's almost gone again. Just have to wait for the silicates to be removed.

 

[jlfox81]

Any idea how long a new tank diatom bloom takes to resolve? I'm supposedly doing all the right things - regular water changes (every 2 weeks), using RODI, not overfeeding, using good filtration and skimmer, and adding livestock slowly. This bloom has lasted 5 weeks so far and its just nasty looking. Tank has been up for 3.5 months now. Phosphate is high despite using PhosGuard - went from 0.24 ppm to 0.18 ppm in about 2 weeks. Not sure what I am doing wrong, but I hate this brown dust all over everything, even the snails.

 

[ReeferNoob4ever]

Depends on how much phosphate/sillicates are in the tank and if you are somehow introducing new supplies of either. Check with a TDS meter what your water level is after filtering it. Did you rinse the sand, how much are you feeding, etc.?

It took a good 6 weeks for my diatoms to go away completely the first time but it would gradually get better every week.

 

[jlfox81]

I did not rinse the sand - used LS and LR. Tank is 32g biocube with two clowns and a CUC. Just added turbo snails. Bought a Milwaukee phosphate tester on advice from LFS and that is what I have been using to test for phosphates; also using Salifert nitrate tester with results at 0. Feeding the clowns Piscine slow sinking pellets once a day - just a small pinch and the fish eat it out of my hand now. Not much goes uneaten and the hermits and nassarius make quick work of any leftovers.
Changed the filtration to a InTank media tower with filter floss, chemi-pure, and purigen, plus the PhosGuard. Also have a small protein skimmer in the second chamber with the media tower. I know the first few months can be challenging, but this bloom and the elevated phosphates have me concerned that I am doing something wrong despite all my forum/book/article reading and advice from LFS.
Sorry if I hijacked this thread:/

 

[ReeferNoob4ever]

Turbo snails should make quick work of it IME.

 

[leetch]

I've used cerith snails for the sand and nerite snails for the glass in the past. Turbo's are great but tend to be short lived and clumsy. Mexican turbos tend to live longer but again if it dies and you aren't aware, you may be adding to the problem.

Personally I would start with 1 cerith and 1 nerite per 10g of water.

Additionally you need to check and be on top of your water parameters and water change schedule.

 

[ReeferNoob4ever]

My conch also destroys the diatoms on the substrate. I think I must get Mexican turbo snails because in the past I have had them live for 2+ years no problem. Of course I have always been a nano tank guy so it's easy to keep an eye on them, although, I've never had to flip one. I will agree, they can knock things over every once in a while.