for the love of god!

[JmLee]

diatom problem .... tank is 50 gal almost 2 months old, 3inch live sand bed 48 lbs of live rock. coral life 9w uv sterilizer, cascade 1500 canaster filter with 3 bags of carbon, floss pads, red sea prizim skimmer soon to be a remora c. heres my water changing regimen in a attempt to stop the brown algae... first week every 2 - 3 days changed 5 gallons water change. second week ( wich is this week, i did a 10 gallon water change on monday and another 10 gallon change today... turned the lights off for almost 2 days.. cut feeding down to once a day.... i looked on wetwebmedia and they recommend NOT wiping the tank down to rid the brown algae because of destroying benifical bacteria.... so ... if i keep a 10 gallon water change every 2-3 days with R/O water you guys think the brown algae will go away? i just cant imagine the brown gunk just disapearing on its own ... on top of that my skimmer is pouring microbubbles all of a sudden!.. and for the people using uv sterilizer how long does it take to usually clear water? my water has a slight white haze to it... AHH im gona go crazy...

 

[d4a2n0k]

What kind of flow do you have? Its hard to say whether or not RO/DI water would clear it up right away or not but its still a very good idea to use it.

Your tank is still new so it could be going through the normal algae blooms.

What are your nitrate and phosphate levels at?

 

[JmLee]

wow.. i just tested my nitrates and there off the charts... 40ppm + i dont get it... and on top of that my skimmer just kicked the bucket and i had to order the remora C today even though i could barely afford it this sucks... my tanks gona have to survive 2 days of no skimmer =(

 

[ChemE]

Don't sweat it, you tank can survive indefinetely without a skimmer. The brown algae bloom is totally normal and eventually the brown will start being replaced by green. Green lasted much longer for me, but things are starting to color up nicely now.

Even after 6 months I couldn't get my nitrates down below 20ppm (craptastic skimmer) so I plumbed a 5 gallon IO bucket in as a fuge ($20 + 1 Saturday) and tossed in some extra chaeto from a local reefer. 3 days later my nitrates were undetectable. One of my favorite LFS was skeptical about the trate reducing potential of chaeto but it sure did work for me.

 

[xtrstangx]

A good fuge works wonders, IME. Throw a light over some chaeto and it will grow like mad.

 

[Psionicdragon]

gotta do a huge water change in order to get it to drop.

i.e. for a 50 gal, do a 50% with 0 TDS RODI water to get it probably around 20 or so ppm of nitrate.

My tank finish cycle, but I don't have have that high of nitrate reading. I did have diatom and cyano. The snails wiped out the diatom.

From my understanding, UV doesn't make water "clear." It just kills stuff that goes through the chamber.

Your skimmer...don't know.

 

[JmLee]

yeah i just ordered a remora c with a overflow box.. hopefully that helps.