diatoms

[CrOsSwIrE]

What is the best invertabrate for a FOWLR that will eat diatoms?

Thanks for any advice

~mike

 

[dmo]

I put a few astraea snails in to take care of a massive diatom outbreak after curing my rock. They clean up the diatoms very quickly and are making my live rock look much healthier in general. I can't say if they are the best, but they are good.

 

[CrOsSwIrE]

Well, my next question would be... How many would you reccomend for a 125gal tank with 200lb of live rock?

 

[bertoni]

If you can get snails locally, you could start with a dozen or so, and add more as needed. I tend to prefer Trochus and cerith snails for this job, since they are better adapted to sandy substrates.

 

[CrOsSwIrE]

oops, I forgot to mention that i have a crushed coral substrate...

 

[AquaReeferMan]

I have both Astraea and Cerith snails to control diatoms. In my 55 I have about 17 astraea and 3 ceriths. In my 30 I have 10 and 1. I do not have a conch though I was thinking about geeting a queen. Either way everything stated works great. Good luck

 

[CrOsSwIrE]

are these ok on crushed coral?

 

[tulkas71]

Also diatom outbreaks will go away on their own. just wait it out.(weeks)

 

[dmo]

Unless there is something I am missing, I can't see why crushed coral would make a difference..? Sometimes if an astraea falls on its side, you might need to give it a hand in righting itself.. Though I have seen them stretch WAY out to grab onto something

 

[rodgod20]

I am working my diatom bloom right now, the astrea snails are doing real well cleaning it up, I would also look at a turbo snail or 2 as well.

I have *heard* that hermits will kill snails, my hermits don't mess with them, but just FYI

 

[WaterKeeper]

The tanks initial algae bloom is one of competition. Diatoms appear first but green algae soon follows and out-competes the diatoms for the tanks nutrients. The diatoms then fade away. Snails help but don't completely solve the problem as they return some of the nutrients to the tank. Water changes or growing macro algae to harvest are good methods to remove those nutrients and skimming can also help.

 

[CrOsSwIrE]

I dont have a spot to put macro algae without putting it in the tank. Is there an option that doesnt involve adding algae to get rid of algae. I've also been running my skimmer since day one. Also, how much of a water change would you reccomend for a 125?

 

[acrouse]

How often do you intend on doing water change?

 

[CarmieJo]

My astera snails never were interested in the diatoms on my sand. But, as stated above, this is all part of a new tank and with good husbandry it will go away.

 

[CrOsSwIrE]

acrouse once a month if i can get away with it. but if smaller changes more often would be more effective I could go that way as well...

 

[WaterKeeper]

I always changed 15 gallons a week on my 130. With the sump it was just about 10% of the actual water volume. For less than $4 a week it was good insurance.

 

[acrouse]

I agree with Waterkeeper- I also do 10% weekly in my 100gal. It has helped keep nitrates down. Also had your diatom problem and the Trochus,ceriths, and Nassarisus snails did an excellent job cleaning up(as bertoni mentioned earlier). They started on the rock first and have moved on the sand. I don't have to worry about these snails tipping over and not being able to get up. Also added 2 med sized turbo snails that are algae eating machines!(they seem to work on the glass more than the others) In my tank anyway. Good Luck

 

[WaterKeeper]

Thanks Acrouse,

There are few people in this world that will agree with me.

 

[jerehmy]

I also have a diatim problem right now, At night I will stirr the sand up make it all nice and clean and two hours after the light is on all sand is brown!

 

[WaterKeeper]

Diatoms almost always go away on there own but don't cheer too loud. The usual replacement is green algae that hangs around longer. Once again, water changes will remove nutrients and help the plaque abate.