Diatom algae

[Kyle Sicard]

I wanted to ask whats the secret to defeating diatom algae? From everything that I've researched I can't find a solution to this algae for my tank.

My RO filters are up to date, and I actually just put new filters in recently. My TDS output is always 0.

I run GFO and keep my phosphates between 0.02-0.05ppm.

My lights are on for a total of 10 hours w/ leds ramping up and down and the T5 are only on for 4 hours during the photoperiod. I used a par meter to tune the intensity of the LEDs.

I'm not sure what to do next in order to get rid of the algae. My sand is always brown and I'm getting sick of it. Hopefully you can shed some light on it.

 

[Anthony Wood]

How old is the tank?

 

[Kyle Sicard]

Thats a little difficult to judge right now. I setup a 150g + 35g frag tank system in January. Last weekend the tank started leaking so I switched out the 150 for a 120. The entire time the 150 was up and running (8months) i had diatom algae. When i switched to the new tank I was good for about 5 days until it came back. I'm guessing since I didnt re use the same water it took a few days for the algae to have something to feed on.

 

[Anthony Wood]

Could be a mini cycle, if you have substrate bacteria live at certain depths that'll mini cycle a tank moving rock around where spots of the rock are getting different flow and light will mini cycle. If your phosphates and nitrates are under control then the only other source could be over feeding, over dosing, detritus, old T5HO bulbs, a purple T5HO bulb, and to much red LED's. That's everything that can cause diatoms find which source it is and eliminate it. You sure it's diatoms and not dinofalangus?

 

[Anthony Wood]

Or even cyano? Cyano comes in all different colors. If you come to the conclusion that you have none of the problems I listed and it's still in your tank give chemiclean a shot. Just follow the directions, during the 48 hour go a full lights out during that time and hopefully it won't come back. Chemiclean won't harm anything worse case scenario is that it just comes back.

 

[Kyle Sicard]

I dont believe the tank is mini cylcing, I had diatoms for the entire time the 150 was setup. It's definitely diatoms and not cyano or dinos.

Why would purple T5's cause diatoms? I have the LED reds turned down pretty low so I don't think there causing it. I run a aquablue special, purple plus, coral plus and blue plus for T5's.

I do feed frozen 2-3x a day but I don't just dump loads of food in. I try to feed only what they will consume.

 

[twilliard]

A picture of the issue will be golden.
Diatoms will go in cycles and are obvious under the microscope
Is there a solution to them? Currently there is not.
If someone were to come up with one there may be a substantial chance of killing even the good phytoplankton (what little exists in our tanks)

 

[Anthony Wood]

I dont believe the tank is mini cylcing, I had diatoms for the entire time the 150 was setup. It's definitely diatoms and not cyano or dinos.

Why would purple T5's cause diatoms? I have the LED reds turned down pretty low so I don't think there causing it. I run a aquablue special, purple plus, coral plus and blue plus for T5's.

I do feed frozen 2-3x a day but I don't just dump loads of food in. I try to feed only what they will consume.

Previous post is correct there's no difinitive way to get rid of it because it will use light and when there's no light it'll find another food source. But if you can limit those two things it may not come as bad and go away faster.

Corals don't need red it only feeds the nuisance stuff in the tank. Purple bulbs although deep into the blue also puts off high amounts of light in the red spectrum. Plus their life is short and go bad quick you will be Lucky to get 6 months out of them same with a acitinic bulbs. I actually got my advanced open water diving certification in the Cayman Islands a couple weeks ago. The instructor brought down a color card after a few feet red was completely filtered out by the water and was brown proving my point the tank doesn't need red.

Try limiting the frozen to once a day for a couple weeks it may help. What's the worse case scenario that happens froM limiting the frozen? Nothing it could help getting rid of the diatom or it doesn't help then you can up the feeding again. Point being you gotta start a trial and error process to narrow your problem down. If you don't you'll never get rid of it taking into account it's been there for months. A picture will also help.

 

[Kyle Sicard]

I'll start feeding once a day then. If that doesn't provide results I will change out some of the T5 to see if the aqua blue special or the purple plus is causing it. Thanks for the advice.

 

[earl steier]

i saw on vivid aquariums .com youtube video he describe a customer told him to use yeast to rid there 800 galoon tank of diatoms. i am new to this hobby but am starting a 180 gallon reef tank and just started diatons. vivid aqauriun guy said cleared up after seven days. i have been doseing three days now and it seems to help. Anyway check out vivid aquariums youtube. you only use a pinch a day of yeast. i use the test kit spoon to dose my tank

 

[twilliard]

I'll start feeding once a day then. If that doesn't provide results I will change out some of the T5 to see if the aqua blue special or the purple plus is causing it. Thanks for the advice.

Lighting is not a "cause" it's a component.
Understanding what they are and how they are made is the best tool a person can have in understanding a method of removal.

 

[Anthony Wood]

Lighting is not a "cause" it's a component.
Understanding what they are and how they are made is the best tool a person can have in understanding a method of removal.

Your just playing with words. No matter what words you use and what order you put them in, you literally just restated what I already said in a simpler easier to way to be understood more clearly.

 

[twilliard]

Just trying to help save him money oh and a lot of head scratching
I do a lot of research on stuff like this.

 

[jsker]

i saw on vivid aquariums .com youtube video he describe a customer told him to use yeast to rid there 800 galoon tank of diatoms. i am new to this hobby but am starting a 180 gallon reef tank and just started diatons. vivid aqauriun guy said cleared up after seven days. i have been doseing three days now and it seems to help. Anyway check out vivid aquariums youtube. you only use a pinch a day of yeast. i use the test kit spoon to dose my tank

Really dose not work. I tried it. Do you run filter socks?

 

[esolo16]

Diatoms are caused by silicates in the tank. It is normal in new tanks and will go away once the silicates are consumed. Your new tank could have caused diatoms as some silicates could be present, however I think you have other issues here. I would guess it's actually cyano.

 

[Pauwll]

Diatoms may be from high silicate levels, either in your water or in your sand.
You could try rophos or similar silicate remover. Best used in a small reactor to cause a tumble effect. Worked for me on tank size upgrade. Diatoms gone in about a week.

 

[BlueCursor]

My silicate measures 0 with test kit. High silicates is a possible contribution, but not necessarily the only cause. I found that high bacteria count does more to produce diatoms than anything else in my tank. People who use carbon pellet dosing often have diatom issues.

Lowering P04 helps, but you need to get the organics down so bacteria and diatoms go down. Don't does any carbon source! Unfortunately, most salts have carbon sources added to them. Reef crystals has it.

 

[Anthony Wood]

Do you run biopellets?

 

[BlueCursor]

Are you asking me or Op? I ran biopellets for 1.5 years. I don't and won't run them any more. I know there are people who love them, but they don't fit my approach well. I no longer keep a ULNS. I try to keep NO3 between 2-3ppm. I also have better results with a refug.

 

[Kyle Sicard]

Diatoms are caused by silicates in the tank. It is normal in new tanks and will go away once the silicates are consumed. Your new tank could have caused diatoms as some silicates could be present, however I think you have other issues here. I would guess it's actually cyano.

I tried feeding less and being real careful to put only a little bit of food in when feeding and it seemed to help at first but it's definitely not going away. I didn't realize brown cyano looks really similar to diatoms, after googling some pictures of brown cyano vs. diatoms I think you are right about it being brown cyano. It didn't look like typical cyano so I dismissed it being cyano.

What are my prevention options for brown cyano? I did start vinegar dosing 2 weeks ago, but i've had the algae problem for 8+ months now and the first 8 months the tank was up I never dosed any sort of carbon source during that time, so I would say its safe to say that the vinegar isn't causing it.