Cyano, diatoms? Help!

[Philliesphan]

Hey guys. This popped up on my sandbed 4 days ago. I dosed chemiclean and it's been over 48 hours and this is still spreading/getting worse. So the chemiclean didn't work. Removed carbon. It stays the same all day & night. All levels are in check (not high). What does it look like to you? TIA!

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

First, how long has your tank been running?

 

[crazyfishmom]

Looks like it could be diatoms.

One major recommendation: please try to stay away from adding any chemicals. These nuisance algae are part of the maturation stages of the tank and putting chemicals in to reduce them only throws the tank further out of balance.

 

[Philliesphan]

First, how long has your tank been running?

4 months now.

 

[Philliesphan]

Looks like it could be diatoms.

One major recommendation: please try to stay away from adding any chemicals. These nuisance algae are part of the maturation stages of the tank and putting chemicals in to reduce them only throws the tank further out of balance.

Okay I was thinking diatoms too. Is there anything I can do?

 

[ssatter]

New tank blues. Mine too but things are turning around... I keep sand clean by siphon as many times a week as I needed to.. and frequent water changes. Like yours mine started w diatoms...then cyano.. peel it off blow it off scoop it up as needed... then hair alge...scrubbed w toothbrush and scoop out w fine net... now all of a sudden I see copepods everywhere which eat the hair alge and haven't seen diatoms or cyano in weeks...cleaning is key early on but as tank matures less cleaning will.be needed.

 

[crazyfishmom]

Okay I was thinking diatoms too. Is there anything I can do?

I think @ssatter just said it best. Siphoning them out if you can’t stand to look at it is the best way to go. I don’t even do that and just wait it out because it will definitely go away as the tank matures over the next couple of weeks. The healthiest thing you can do for your reef right now is maybe dose a little bit of beneficial bacteria, live phytoplankton, and copepods. They will not take care of the diatoms or other nuisance algaes overnight but they will help establish the biome of the system in a healthy way and one day you’ll wake up and you’ll have clean sand. Adding a sand sifter like a conch can help too. Enjoy the journey, the tank already looks great.

 

[Philliesphan]

New tank blues. Mine too but things are turning around... I keep sand clean by siphon as many times a week as I needed to.. and frequent water changes. Like yours mine started w diatoms...then cyano.. peel it off blow it off scoop it up as needed... then hair alge...scrubbed w toothbrush and scoop out w fine net... now all of a sudden I see copepods everywhere which eat the hair alge and haven't seen diatoms or cyano in weeks...cleaning is key early on but as tank matures less cleaning will.be needed.

Did you dose any copepods? I was thinking about doing phyto

 

[BristleWormHater]

That is a very mild "outbreak" of diatoms. Don't dose chemiclean as soon as you see any algae, do you have a clean up crew? If so, what is in it?

 

[ssatter]

I may have had a few hitchhikers in live rock but yes I purchased copepods from reef by steel ... I sent him videos thanking him for the results but he said those might not be his and maybe a colony left over and doing well from the live rock hitchhikers.

 

[Philliesphan]

That is a very mild "outbreak" of diatoms. Don't dose chemiclean as soon as you see any algae, do you have a clean up crew? If so, what is in it?

That is a very mild "outbreak" of diatoms. Don't dose chemiclean as soon as you see any algae, do you have a clean up crew? If so, what is in it?

I have a conch, a few turbo snails, nassarius snails, a hermit, diamond goby. Anything I could do?

 

[Philliesphan]

I think @ssatter just said it best. Siphoning them out if you can’t stand to look at it is the best way to go. I don’t even do that and just wait it out because it will definitely go away as the tank matures over the next couple of weeks. The healthiest thing you can do for your reef right now is maybe dose a little bit of beneficial bacteria, live phytoplankton, and copepods. They will not take care of the diatoms or other nuisance algaes overnight but they will help establish the biome of the system in a healthy way and one day you’ll wake up and you’ll have clean sand. Adding a sand sifter like a conch can help too. Enjoy the journey, the tank already looks great.

Thank you very much for the helpful information. Trying to keep the tank "crystal clean" isn't always going to happen. But I'm picky! (And impatient)

 

[Philliesphan]

I may have had a few hitchhikers in live rock but yes I purchased copepods from reef by steel ... I sent him videos thanking him for the results but he said those might not be his and maybe a colony left over and doing well from the live rock hitchhikers.

I keep hearing about copepods. A buddy of mine just gave me some phytoplankton.

 

[BristleWormHater]

I have a conch, a few turbo snails, nassarius snails, a hermit, diamond goby. Anything I could do?

Seems like kind of a small cuc for a 40 gallon, how many is a few? You may need to add more down the road my favorites are cerith snails and trochus snails. Don't worry about these diatoms though, they usually go away on their own in a few weeks.

 

[Philliesphan]

Seems like kind of a small cuc for a 40 gallon, how many is a few? You may need to add more down the road my favorites are cerith snails and trochus snails. Don't worry about these diatoms though, they usually go away on their own in a few weeks.

I think 3 turbos, 3 nassarius, 1 conch, 1 hermit. I was wondering if I should add more and what I should add. (It's a 60g).

 

[BristleWormHater]

I would recommend adding 2-3 trochus, they are similar to turbos but will eat almost anything. What kind of hermit? You should get a few more, maybe 4 red/blue legs 2 polka dots, and a Halloween hermit if you want one. Cerith snails are my favorite cuc, they clean rocks, sand, and glass, they mainly go under the sand like nassarius, but will come back up and clean the glass, especially near the sandbed where you cant use the algae scraper and no other snails seem to clean.

 

[Philliesphan]

I would recommend adding 2-3 trochus, they are similar to turbos but will eat almost anything. What kind of hermit? You should get a few more, maybe 4 red/blue legs 2 polka dots, and a Halloween hermit if you want one. Cerith snails are my favorite cuc, they clean rocks, sand, and glass, they mainly go under the sand like nassarius, but will come back up and clean the glass, especially near the sandbed where you cant use the algae scraper and no other snails seem to clean.

I'm not sure what kind of hermit he is. It's small. But I will definitely be taking your recommendation and adding more. Can I have more than 1 conch? I think they say they're "fighting conchs"?

 

[PharmrJohn]

You don't happen to have a microscope do ya?

 

[vetteguy53081]

I keep hearing about copepods. A buddy of mine just gave me some phytoplankton.

Allow the tank to mature and accept the uglies unless they get out of hand. Avoiding use of tap water, overfeeding and adding a skimmer will help. Some snails that consume this are: Astrea, margarita, cerith, nerite and nassarius

 

[Philliesphan]

You don't happen to have a microscope do ya?

I wish I did but I don't! I actually siphoned the aquarium last night and boom. It came back like I never did it this morning