Algae or Diatoms

[ReefTanker91]

Hello amazing people, I’ve had my tank up with lights running since the first of May. I have Tampa Bay live rock in it along with carbs sea Fiji pink sand.

PH site at 7.8
Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate somewhere between 0 to 5ppm (API test kit)

The tank is seeded with copepods.

I do 10% water changes weekly. The only life I have in the tank is whatever came on the rocks. I’m just puzzled to see what the below brown looking algae is.

It was my understanding with live rocks you skip the ugly phase.

I am waiting on a a shipment of the below on June 6th. I will also be receiving some corals.

Emerald Crab​	3​	​
Astraea Turbo Snail - 20 ​	1​	​
Peppermint Shrimp​	3​	​
Cleaner Shrimp​	3​	​
Cerith Snail - 5​	1​	​
Nassarius Snail small - 5​

Will this algae or diatoms affect the corals?

What other information is needed to below with the cause of this? Will it pass by itself? Should I vacuum the sand?

 

[DDenny]

Looks more like diatoms to me. Also looks like a fairly new tank and you will go through the ugly stages but maybe not as bad with live rock. Also remember that API tests are not the most accurate but do work good in the beginning to give you an idea of where you're at nutrient wise just do not put a lot of stock in accurate numbers.

 

[lil sumpin]

A little surprising to see this in a live rock start but dont fret, it’ll pass. Looks like a diatom bloom which is likely due to silicates in the sand. Good move planning to get CUC in, I think you just gotta stand by for another few weeks and you’ll be in the clear. Great lookin tank!

 

[ReefTanker91]

Thank you both for your replies. Would it be wise to vacuum the sand or just let it go through its phase?

 

[DDenny]

Probably wouldn’t hurt anything to be honest they will come right back but the water changes will help get the silicates out a tad faster.

 

[Dan_P]

Hello amazing people, I’ve had my tank up with lights running since the first of May. I have Tampa Bay live rock in it along with carbs sea Fiji pink sand.

PH site at 7.8
Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate somewhere between 0 to 5ppm (API test kit)

The tank is seeded with copepods.

I do 10% water changes weekly. The only life I have in the tank is whatever came on the rocks. I’m just puzzled to see what the below brown looking algae is.

It was my understanding with live rocks you skip the ugly phase.

I am waiting on a a shipment of the below on June 6th. I will also be receiving some corals.

Emerald Crab​	3​	​
Astraea Turbo Snail - 20​	1​	​
Peppermint Shrimp​	3​	​
Cleaner Shrimp​	3​	​
Cerith Snail - 5​	1​	​
Nassarius Snail small - 5​

Will this algae or diatoms affect the corals?

What other information is needed to below with the cause of this? Will it pass by itself? Should I vacuum the sand?

The uglies can happen even with live rock. Maybe you can hope for less severe nuisance algae growth or skipping dinoflagellate blooms because the predators of these organisms are in greater numbers with live rock starts.

 

[ReefTanker91]

T

The uglies can happen even with live rock. Maybe you can hope for less severe nuisance algae growth or skipping dinoflagellate blooms because the predators of these organisms are in greater numbers with live rock starts.

Understood, is it a bad idea putting in corals while this bloom is happening?

 

[Dan_P]

T

Understood, is it a bad idea putting in corals while this bloom is happening?

I have not heard anyone advise against adding coral to an aquarium with diatoms on the sand.

By the way, there appears to be decent size worm crawling through your sand (see the tunnel in 2nd photo). If you worry about such things or they creep you out , now is the time to find it and remove it, before the coral goes in.

Good luck with the new aquarium. Should be fun.

 

[ReefTanker91]

Thank you! Yeah I’ve given up on trying to catch all the pests. It’s just something I’ll have to live with. I think most wont bother my fish or coral. If I see it next time I’ll see about taking it out.

 

[Huntersreef]

Newbie here as well. My tank looked similar. Running the white light for only 4 hours helped and the cuc/copepods did the rest. First photo (with my emerald crab waving hi) and second are two weeks apart

 

[Huntersreef]

Also I have a GSP and pulsing Xenia in there. I did have to routinely use a baster to blow off the diatoms. They are both doing well.

 

[ReefTanker91]

Huge difference. Did you run strictly white light?

 

[Huntersreef]

Huge difference. Did you run strictly white light?

I had been running the blue for 10 and white for 8 of those hours. I left the blue at 10 and backed off the white to 4. That’s helped a ton!