Diamtoms again?

[j.falk]

Does anyone know if it possible to have a second round of diatoms bloom after gravel vacuuming the sand in an established (8-9 month old) tank? I cleaned the tank 2 days ago and now it looks like I'm going through a second round of diatoms...but I'm also concerned that it might be dinos. Any advice?

 

[COreef8]

I always have some dino PTSD flashbacks when I see some brown areas developing in my tank.

If it's diatoms, I wouldn't worry about it. It will run it's course. Dino's are more difficult. One of the best things I ever did for peace of mind was buy a toy microscope for $11 off amazon (Amscope 100x-1200X) . Wasn't really expecting anything from it but it helped me diagnose the species of dinos I had and I've pulled it out several times since then to verify that the brown stuff I was seeing wasn't a relapse. It's easy to tell the difference between dinos and diatoms under a microscope.

 

[Katrina71]

Yes. It's very possible.

 

[Katrina71]

Do you have a pic?

 

[j.falk]

Do you have a pic?

Not at the moment. I just cleaned the tank and everything is spotless again. Waiting to see how it looks tomorrow morning.

 

[j.falk]

I always have some dino PTSD flashbacks when I see some brown areas developing in my tank.

If it's diatoms, I wouldn't worry about it. It will run it's course. Dino's are more difficult. One of the best things I ever did for peace of mind was buy a toy microscope for $11 off amazon (Amscope 100x-1200X) . Wasn't really expecting anything from it but it helped me diagnose the species of dinos I had and I've pulled it out several times since then to verify that the brown stuff I was seeing wasn't a relapse. It's easy to tell the difference between dinos and diatoms under a microscope.

Thanks for the tip. I'll pick up one of the microscopes with my current Amazon order.