I hate diatoms

[con999]

i have a 26 gallon mixed reef. 30 lb or rock and sand. the tank is just about 10 months old.

but i feel like i cant get rid any diatoms. im about ready to tank the tank down and sell every thing.:blown: their every were glass you cant see any white on the sand its all brown from them. and its always been like that. i got them when the tank was about 4 weeks old, and never got rid of them. so dose anyone no how to get rid of them:uzi:

 

[jakesalk]

Maybe it's not diatoms and it's brown alge what kinda lighting u got

 

[B-Willz]

water perameter?

 

[con999]

all perameters are good just tested them

for my light i have 4 t-5 s and all of them on the sand die at night, so i dont think is alge.

 

[B-Willz]

How often do you do water changes? Where is your water from? Tap water? What are your water perameters? Saying there good does not help, we need true readings, so we know what you are testing. Need specifics to help. You can cure this it should not be that hard to fix it, don't give up.

 

[con999]

i do week water changes from an rodi. not tap.
sg 1.026
ph8.2
Ammo - undetectable
Nitrite - undetectable
Nitrate - 5ppm
Salinity - 1.025
Temp 80

 

[B-Willz]

Have you tested the water coming from the RO/DI, with a TDS meter. How long are your lights on for?

 

[con999]

well the rodi is from a lfs. and my lights are on for 11 hours a day iv tryed the lights out idead but as soon as the lights came back on they all grew back

 

[B-Willz]

could be bad water from the lfs. You can get a TDS meter from walmart for like 15 bucks. LFS are not always good at changing out the filters when they should.

 

[milhous3er]

Try taking a turkey baster and blast the rocks to get the diatoms in the water colony. Then take your syphon and remove all the diatom filled water. Just keep repeating twice a week or so. I just replaced my CC for aragonite sand and had some diatom problems. That was 4 weeks ago, and i'm diatom free now. Also try some nassarius snails to mix up your sandbed. They may not eat the diatoms (and i'm sure they don't) but they will make it alittle more eye appealing. HTH

 

[outy]

all perameters are good just tested them

for my light i have 4 t-5 s and all of them on the sand die at night, so i dont think is alge.

sure sign of dino's bud not diatoms.

 

[Mavrk]

What kind of cleanup crew do you have? How about flow?

 

[greech]

sure sign of dino's bud not diatoms.

Could be but it took an almost a full year for my diatoms to fade away. I had none shortly after cycle and then they came back a couple of months later and hung around. Never had them on the rocks, only the sand and glass. Sand would be white as could be in the morning but by the end of the day covered and it was definitely not dino's. I did upgrade flow in the tank shortly before they started to fade but not sure if that was the reason. Also, my tank was sumplesss and skimmerless.

 

[Mavrk]

Also have to ask about bioload.

 

[greech]

In my situation I only had 2 B/W clowns in a 40 breeder. Weekly 20% water changes. If that helps.

 

[outy]

Could be but it took an almost a full year for my diatoms to fade away. I had none shortly after cycle and then they came back a couple of months later and hung around. Never had them on the rocks, only the sand and glass. Sand would be white as could be in the morning but by the end of the day covered and it was definitely not dino's. I did upgrade flow in the tank shortly before they started to fade but not sure if that was the reason. Also, my tank was sumplesss and skimmerless.

were not talking about your issues bud, diatoms dont dissapear when the lights gow out they just dont grow as fast.

you proabbly had diatoms as i do right now in my new tank. there on the glass and sand only but when the lighst go out they dont dissapear the way dino's do

 

[con999]

Could be but it took an almost a full year for my diatoms to fade away. I had none shortly after cycle and then they came back a couple of months later and hung around. Never had them on the rocks, only the sand and glass. Sand would be white as could be in the morning but by the end of the day covered and it was definitely not dino's. I did upgrade flow in the tank shortly before they started to fade but not sure if that was the reason. Also, my tank was sumplesss and skimmerless.

omg you just said whats going on. the only think though is i do have a skimmer. and they havent left yet

so what did u do to get ride of them

 

[con999]

were not talking about your issues bud, diatoms dont dissapear when the lights gow out they just dont grow as fast.

you proabbly had diatoms as i do right now in my new tank. there on the glass and sand only but when the lighst go out they dont dissapear the way dino's do

so what could they be then. also my bioload is ok a bit onn the high side but all tests look good

 

[outy]

if it looks almost like a slippery mat or has bubbles attached its dino's. dinos dissapear at night

if it looks like a light coating of rust [dust] then its diatoms

diatoms if not from a new tank are from excess silicates in the water.

 

[con999]

well how can i get rid of the silicates in the water