I need Help bad!!!!

[Jecco]

My tank has been set for over a year and half. It was running fine up until Christmas, that's when the brown stuff started to appear. I've been told it is Diatoms or Dinoflagelletes. What ever it is I can't get rid of it. I've done everything. I added a refugium, I've changed my lights, I'm doing 15 gal. water changes weekly, I'm running a very wet skim, I dripping Kalk, I'm using Rowaphos, I using Allgone, I'm using Chemi-pure. I don't know what else to do. This stuff just won't leave. It's everywhere, on my sand and rock. I blow it off or suck it up and 2 hours later it's right back as thick as it ever was.
Let me give you specs on my tank:
75 gal
20 gal sump
5 gal refugium
Aqua C Remore Pro skimmer
2 110wt VHO
2 250wt 10k MH
approx 80lbs of LR
Amm 0 ppm
Nitrate 0 ppm
Phos 0 ppm
I use RO/DI water that I make, TDS 0, Phos 0 ppm.
Below is a photo of my problem. The water column is perfectly clear, just were ever there's a surface there's this brown stuff growing on it. Does anyone have any experience with this. I'm getting so fustrated with this, I need help bad!!!!!

 

[Travis L. Stevens]

I also think it looks like dinoflagelates. Unless I'm mistaken, the only thing bad with these little guys are their unsightlyness. If you can withstand the look of it, it should go away with time if you just keep up what you are doing. Do you have anything that moves the sand? For example, Sand Sifting Starfish, Sand Sifting Gobies, Pistol Shrimp, Conches, Illyanassa snails, Nassarius Snails, etc.

 

[Jecco]

I do have 2 sand sifting stars but they don't do very much for the problem.

 

[Travis L. Stevens]

They don't eat Dinos, so they won't help. They eat sandbed fauna.

I was thinking if you had something that actively turned the sand, it might keep it from forming or be causing it. But the dinos are feeding off of something and a sand sifting critter would only mask the problem. Your sand bed could be releasing excess nutrients into the system and the dinos are eating it as fast as it comes out. If that is what is happening, then those dinos are doing you a favor.

What is your method of water flow and how much?

I hear Conchs eat some undesirable sand nasties. Which ones? I can't remember. Would I recomend adding more to the tank? No.

 

[Jecco]

I have a Seio powerhead, I can't remember the #, 900 rio, and the return pump which is another 2500 Rio.

 

[ricks]

Have you added anything new??? How high is your bio load??? Most of the time these types of algae are fueled by low waterflow. And grow on sand beds. Increase your flow over the sand. Slow down, things take time... also in my option the tangs will outgrow your 75 Gal... If the algae on the sand gets to much, you can always go bare bottom. Or do I want to start that???

 

[dillycheeze]

do you know what your silicate level is coming from your RO/DI? i dealt with this in my early days.....get a salifert SiO2 kit and see....would also increase flow/move powerheads around....replace bulb and do a 25% waterchange sucking out as much brown stuff as possible...and refill with water that has a 0 silica reading

 

[21Reefman]

I had this issue recently, TOTALLY frustrating!! It has seemed to pass, I only did water changes and kept the water in good parameters.
I also let the normal green algea cover the glass, did dot clean it for more than a week, and then put on a canister with a micron filter before I did clean it. I stirred up the tank and did a water change leaving on the micron filter for a few days(2), then swithched it out with a media cartridge w/carbon, and then let the cycle repeat.
My theory was to let all the silica (or whatever the diatom feeds from) get consumed and converted into algea, and then remove as much of that all at once when I stirred it into the water column. I did the routine last night and have 2 micron canisters running, I will switch one out for a clean micron (overkill), and the other I will put a mix of carbon and phos-loc ( I think that is the name brand), that I run for 3 weeks, this is also what was in there for the past 4 weeks.

I would like to ask;
Does silica build up in the DSB??
Does the smell of sulfur indicate high silica buildup, or any sort of silica producing reactions??

 

[mr.wilson]

I don't think it's dinoflagellates as they don't look jelly-like. It looks like diatoms to me.

Diatoms are caused by silicates. Even if your RO/DI is providing silicate-free source water, you still import silicate when feeding. What kind of foods do you use? Do you rinse frozen foods first?

You can remove silicate chemically with ferric hydroxide-based media, or biologically with probiotics such as macro algae, mangrove trees, and coraline algae. Unfortunately, nothing (other than bacteria and clams) eat diatoms.

Your tank appears to have little in the way of coraline algae. Was it set-up with base rock? base rock has low bio-diversity and allows lower life forms like diatoms to get a foothold. It's a kaos theory of sorts. Nature puts the diatoms there to solve the excess nutrient problem. You need to replace the diatoms with a healthy, attractive alternative and reduce the kaos it's causing.

You can also mechanically remove the diatoms with a micron filter. A coagulant like Kent Marine "Pro-Clear" will allow you to filter them out with a 25 micron filter such as the Ocean Clear unit. Otherwise, the Vortex "diatom" filter (sans diatomaceous earth) will work.

 

[21Reefman]

"A coagulant like Kent Marine "Pro-Clear" will allow you to filter them out with a 25 micron filter such as the Ocean Clear unit."

What about without it?

 

[Jecco]

Your right about the base rock, however @ one time there was corraline growing all over the rock. Since this has started it's kinda of disappeared. I have a fuge with Chaeto, I'm currently changeing 15 gal of water once a week. Should I be vacuuming the sand bed. My sand bed is nothing more than for looks. It's only about 1" deep.

 

[gussy]

How about do nothing and wait a few months. If you are not overfeeding and have clean source water...everything should go away within a year.

 

[Jecco]

That's kinda of what I've been doing. The problem is that it is covering some of my corals such as the zoos and they appear to be dying off.

 

[mr.wilson]

Diatoms are 20-200 microns in diameter. I use an Ocean Clear cartridge that removes 25 microns or greater. Once the filter gets a "skin" on it, it can remove smaller particles.

Vortex diatom filters remove particles down to 1 micron.

Coagulants actively increase the size of free-floating diatoms, thus making them easier to capture and perhaps killing them, or at least minimizing them, as a side effect.

After they are physically removed, I would encourage the growth of pro-biotics like macro-algae, mangrove trees, and coraline algae.

 

[tonyscoots84]

just a thought...


what is your flow, lighting, and bioload like....

flow - Def. very low flow for a 75 gallon... would add a tunze or seio something with a high flow..

lighting - how many hours

 

[Litespeeds]

I have a very similar problem that I am trying to attack now. Here is the link:
http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=811770

 

[Jecco]

So, Lite did it work? Did you get the reactor?

 

[easttn]

What kind of sand is that? Did it pass the vinegar test if not SD or similar?

That NA thrives in low flow environments, if you can afford it-3X (min) whatever flow you have. Go see the proprietor of Kirmet's reef he is an encyclopedia of reef knowledge.
GL.

 

[dzekunoi]

I had that problem too. It seems to me the only way I was able to deal with it is by adding a whole lot of snails and 2 gobies.

 

[Litespeeds]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7066952#post7066952 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Jecco
So, Lite did it work? Did you get the reactor?

Added a Phosban Reactor yesterday evening so I will keep you posted on the results. I have also added a Polyfilter as well and have used carbon for about 4 days. Did another 15 gallon water change with natural sea water about a week ago so I have been trying to keep up with the routine maintenance until everything gets back to normal. Seems like it is starting to take effect. Just have to be patient and let nature take its course.
Also purchased 2 sea hares as well as 10 turbo snails. Let's see what happens in a week or so.