Diatoms?

oshanickreef

New member
Hey I recently have had this red brown slime algae growing. I think it's diatoms. Pics attached.

Any ideas how to rid the tank of this? Is there a treatment?

No3 = 5
Po4 = .16
Alk 9.4
Cal 440


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The golden brown color and oxygen bubbles in it suggest it may be dinoflagellates. Does it get more bubbly later in the day?
 
I do. However, keep in mind there are multiple kinds of dinos, so what worked for me may not work for you.

Think of your dino experience as several battles to win the war. You have to wear it down before you can finish it off.

Here's what worked for me:
UV - this will kill any water column dinos that get pulled through.
Repeated manual removal - You are what you eat. Removing dinos also removes what they eat, so you never have to figure out what they eat. What do you think is a more concentrated source of dino nutrients, tank water or the dinos themselves?
Lots of consumers - like snails and pods. Lots of 'em.
Competitors - like fast growing macro algae. I used Ulva.

Do all of the above for 2-4 months. This will gradually wear them down. When you get to the point where they look like you've just about beaten them, it's time for the knock-out combo-punch. Do a very thorough manual removal, a 3-4 day black-out, and finish with a large water change. For the black-out, you want to wrap the tank so no light can get in.

That worked for me. Good luck!
 
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