I thought it was a diatom bloom....

[schryvertime]

SO a couple of weeks ago i thought i had a diatom bloom. I am a year into my reef tank and everything that i have read said to let it be and it will go away just like it did when the tank cycled. For the most part over the two weeks it has started to disappear in the last few days but has become almost slimy looking. i have a few pictures taken, anyone know if its Dino's. Should i continue to let it go and run its course?

Tank parameters:
temp= 81.5
nitrates=20
ph=8.2
calcium is 500

 

[outy]

looks like it to me.

Is that a silica based sand?

 

[schryvertime]

looks like it to me.

Is that a silica based sand?

Umm it is the caribe an live sand and some of the sand from the LFS that came out of the stingray tank. So it looks like dinos?

 

[schryvertime]

Caribbean sand

 

[CStrickland]

or your starting to get some cyano going and diatoms are caught in it. How fast does it grow, and if you let it build up does it get real snotty and make bubbles?

 

[schryvertime]

It was growing real fast like diatoms...now it has slowed way down. Been the same for a couple of days.

 

[schryvertime]

or your starting to get some cyano going and diatoms are caught in it. How fast does it grow, and if you let it build up does it get real snotty and make bubbles?

But it does seem snotty. No bubbles.

 

[schryvertime]

Scratch that. There is bubbles.

 

[splix]

i had the same scare last week. It was just heavy diatoms. They even had bubbles but they were on the sand bed, not on strings of algae like dino would be. Yours looks like diatoms to me. Mine have been on the decline all this week but are still around. Let it keep going and just relax If it's not expanding I wouldnt worry too much. Diatoms will stick around for awhile then be gone, then come back again, then go away, then repeat. haha

 

[schryvertime]

i had the same scare last week. It was just heavy diatoms. They even had bubbles but they were on the sand bed, not on strings of algae like dino would be. Yours looks like diatoms to me. Mine have been on the decline all this week but are still around. Let it keep going and just relax If it's not expanding I wouldnt worry too much. Diatoms will stick around for awhile then be gone, then come back again, then go away, then repeat. haha

Should I siphon it out during my weekly water change?

 

[splix]

I stirred and siphoned the sand when I did my water change when they were in full force. They reappeared a couple hours later haha.
The rule with diatoms is just let them do their thing and kill themselves off or else they'll come back.
As long as you cant physically pick up a blanket off the sand bed (meaning if you move the sand it still feels like sand) then just let them be. Not pretty I know but oh well.

 

[schryvertime]

I stirred and siphoned the sand when I did my water change when they were in full force. They reappeared a couple hours later haha.
The rule with diatoms is just let them do their thing and kill themselves off or else they'll come back.
As long as you cant physically pick up a blanket off the sand bed (meaning if you move the sand it still feels like sand) then just let them be. Not pretty I know but oh well.

Makes sense. So out if curiosity, what makes you think it's diatoms and not anything else? The color?

 

[splix]

color and texture, and the fact that I'm in the middle of diatoms myself haha. Like I said, as long as it isnt creating a blanket and when you touch it, it feels like sand then you're fine.

 

[aquamn1999]

nitrates=20

That is very high and probably higher than that because the algae is using some of it

 

[schryvertime]

nitrates=20

That is very high and probably higher than that because the algae is using some of it

Yea. I have been working on bringing it down. I had bio media that I removed and I found out that my skimmer hasn't been working right for a solid month before a few weeks ago. I'm doing weekly water changes, cleaned all pumps real well and the skimmer is back to working great. It has dropped. it was about 30 ppm. I have a water change tomorrow.

 

[schryvertime]

color and texture, and the fact that I'm in the middle of diatoms myself haha. Like I said, as long as it isnt creating a blanket and when you touch it, it feels like sand then you're fine.

Works for me. Not worrying about it tends to be the hardest part haha!

 

[schryvertime]

Yea. I have been working on bringing it down. I had bio media that I removed and I found out that my skimmer hasn't been working right for a solid month before a few weeks ago. I'm doing weekly water changes, cleaned all pumps real well and the skimmer is back to working great. It has dropped. it was about 30 ppm. I have a water change tomorrow.

I have also cut the amount of food in half.

 

[schryvertime]

color and texture, and the fact that I'm in the middle of diatoms myself haha. Like I said, as long as it isnt creating a blanket and when you touch it, it feels like sand then you're fine.

Good call. This morning it is a quarter of the size as it was yesterday.

 

[3dees]

maybe it's the sand. I have the same sand and the same problem with diatoms on my sand, glass, and powerheads. I clean the glass and ph's every couple of days. I think it's phosphates but from where. tests show .025. I feed lightly once per day.

 

[schryvertime]

maybe it's the sand. I have the same sand and the same problem with diatoms on my sand, glass, and powerheads. I clean the glass and ph's every couple of days. I think it's phosphates but from where. tests show .025. I feed lightly once per day.

Possibly. Can diatoms be based on Nitrates? I know it's primarily silicas but I am using ro di water. My skimmer was really not working well. It originally needed emptying ever 2 to 3 days and then it went from 2 to 3 weeks and wasnt even half full. I had a power head that was gunked up pretty badly as well. Ever since I fixed my skimmer and realized what I was doing wrong is when the diatoms really started to slow down. Just thinking out loud.