Diatoms!!!!!

[BHAMR6]

Iam having a diatom problem in my 65g tank it is only a few mos old but i cant seem to get rid of this problem. It started about 2 mos before i set my 65 up. I started getting this problem in my 24 it had been running for around 2 yrs never no diatoms. I only use ro/ water that i get from a local fish tank store i didnt change anything on how i take care of the 24g I just started having this happen one day.
Anyway when i started my 65 up the diatoms started right up in there also.
I do a 10 to 15 gallon water change every 2 wks using ro
I can clean the tank stir the sand up and it will be back brown in just a few hrs, and after a couple of days it starts to get on my rock.

I have been told that the filters on the lfs ro might be old but if that was the case there would be alot of people w/th this prob.

Another friend of mine said it was silicia but i dont know how it would be getting in the tank.

So if any one else has any ideas i would love to hear them.

Paul

 

[Mariner]

I've had diatoms in my tanks forever, but I don't consider it much of a problem since it takes them a few days to come back after I clean the glass with a magnet cleaner. Snails and other critters seem to do a good job of keeping the diatoms off the sand and rocks.
Here are some things to consider:
-- Silica does help fuel diatoms. It can come from sand, especially if the sand is silica sand (as opposed to aragonite)
-- If you're not sure about your R/O water, invest in a TDS meter. You can get one online for less than $30 I believe. Well worth it.
-- Macro algae uses many of the same nutrients as diatoms; a healthy growth of macro in a fuge should limit diatom growth dramatically.
HTH,
Mariner