Hey guys. I know a diatom bloom is normal and a good sign when cycling a tank but they are taking over my whole tank and don't seem to be going away on their own!!!! I was told though to let them go away on their own as that is the natural process of cycling my tank. My fear though is that if I don't do something myself they will take over the e tire tank.
Diatoms taking over?
- Thread starter leon1972
- Start date
little_fish
Moderator
are you using tap water and what kinda of sand are you using?
Jason420
Reefing newb
i use tap water and a conditioner for it and also had a diatom bloom i cleaned only the front of tank and let my turbo snails do the rest my tank has minimal algae on glass now i think my snails need a reward of a week of with pay lol gotta love them snails good luck with your algae i will put in a good cuc now to clear the algae
jason
jason
little_fish
Moderator
no water conditioner will remove the nitrates, phosphates and other nasties in tap water that cause algae to grow. If you continue to use tap water your algae problems will likely only get worse.
Jason420
Reefing newb
thank you for your input but my tank has a few months established using nothing but tap water and no more blooms of algae but i guess time will tell im battling over a ro/di system on ebay ask we speak so hoppefully no algae untill then
jason:twocents:
jason:twocents:
FishyReef
Broke Reefer!
Leon, what do you have for a clean-up crew in your tank?
Salty B
Reefing newb
Diatoms are kinda ugly! I siphoned it out with airline tubing and added more flow to the bottom. It still took a couple weeks but one day after work I expected to come home and siphon and it was completely gone. This is an easy battle...wait to you meet cyano!
Bifferwine
I am a girl
Diatoms feed off of silicates. Your tap water may have high levels of silicates. If that is the case, as long as you are using tap water, the diatoms will always be around. That is only one of many reasons why it's better to use RODI water. Water conditioner cannot remove all the bad things that are possibly in tap water.
Also if you used play sand or sand from the hardware store, that sand is silicate-based and you will continue to see problems with diatoms.
Also if you used play sand or sand from the hardware store, that sand is silicate-based and you will continue to see problems with diatoms.
I am actually using crushed coral. I want sand but the crushed coral came with the tank and I'll be moving god knows where in a year. I will wait until then to pay for the sand. I can't afford an RODI so I think I will try the conditioner. if that doesn't work guess I'll be buying the distiller water from jewel.
FishyReef
Broke Reefer!
Using crushed coral may be one of your problems! And sand really isn't that expensive if you go for a 1in bed or so. Petco sells aragonite that runs around $6 for 10lbs - at a pound per gallon (or less depending on how much rock work you have covering the bottom of your tank), you're looking at roughly $42 - which in the grand scheme of things isn't very much to ensure good water quality.
The other option would be to pull your crushed coral out and just go with a bare bottom tank until after you move. There is absolutely nothing wrong with a bare bottom tank, and a few of us have them. Bare bottom would be far better than keeping the crushed coral in your tank, as it will cause you all sorts of problems over time.
The other option would be to pull your crushed coral out and just go with a bare bottom tank until after you move. There is absolutely nothing wrong with a bare bottom tank, and a few of us have them. Bare bottom would be far better than keeping the crushed coral in your tank, as it will cause you all sorts of problems over time.
Bifferwine
I am a girl
Also keep in mind that you can get a good RODI unit for around $125-$150.
kevdogg
Reefing newb
Check out Bulkreefsupply.com. A lot of people here on LR use them with great results.
