Diatom Bloom- 3 weeks after adding fish

[lterna]

Hello all,

I am in the midst of having my first diatom bloom in my new tank. I did a fishless cycle, which I completed with the lights off the entire time which is why I am assuming I saw no algae during the cycle. 3 weeks ago I added two clownfish to the tank, and they have been happy ever since. About a week and half ago I added a zoa and a torch to the tank, both of which appear to be thriving. Now, diatoms cover a lot of the sand bed, the tank walls, and some growth on the caribsea life rocks. I have performed 2 water changes since I first added fish, and am preparing another now.

I understand that every time you add new life the tank cycles again. A lot of posts on here say to just ride out the diatom bloom and they will die off on their own. I've also read that the diatoms are appearing because of silicates that can be found in new sand (I used caribsea fiji pink live sand). My question is- Is there really nothing I should be doing to clean the tank? Can I clean the sand to try and remove some of the diatoms? I am just worried that they will eventually threaten the corals, which I don't want to lose.

I should also mention that I am using a skimmer, RODI water, and I change the filter socks every few days. I also have no CUC because my LFS wanted to wait until there was more algae growth on the rocks so they have a food source. I am guessing adding the cuc would also be a nice way to kill off some of the bloom.

 

[AZMSGT]

That new of a tank and you already put in Corals? How many coral? Not being sarcastic but I am still just introducing fish and my tank is 4.5months old. I have 3 test corals in the tank as well as 7 fish.

Also my tank is a diatom blooming mess at the moment.

 

[lterna]

That new of a tank and you already put in Corals? How many coral? Not being sarcastic but I am still just introducing fish and my tank is 4.5months old. I have 3 test corals in the tank as well as 7 fish.

Also my tank is a diatom blooming mess at the moment.

Right now I only have the two clownfish, one zoa plug and a torch plug. The tank is about 3 months old. I'm really just worried about the torch as there was some diatom growth on the base of the plug, and I know they can be choked out by the diatoms. I clean off the plug whenever I see more growth. Should I just ride out the diatom bloom, or try to clean some of it?

 

[AZMSGT]

Right now I only have the two clownfish, one zoa plug and a torch plug. The tank is about 3 months old. I'm really just worried about the torch as there was some diatom growth on the base of the plug, and I know they can be choked out by the diatoms. I clean off the plug whenever I see more growth. Should I just ride out the diatom bloom, or try to clean some of it?

I’m no expert at all.. I’m riding mine out. Added a little CUC, and more on the way.

 

[William Mumford]

You can manually remove it for sure. I just suck it out with water changes

 

[Daniel92481]

Now that you have diatoms, pick up a small CUC to help out. They will disappear on their own with your regular maintenance schedule. Next time you do a water change, try vacuuming the sand a bit too.

 

[Miami Reef]

Diatoms are there to remove the silicates in water. Rather than removing the diatoms; remove the silicates. Use RODI water for ATO and water changes (make sure TDS is 0ppm). Keep nitrates and phosphates low, and they should be gone in their own.
It’s possible that the new sand caused it. I’d say ride it out, and don’t mess with it too much.

 

[#1Fellowreefer]

Hello there, I am also new to this hobby but I have been reading and researching for about six months now and my Tank was cycled fishless first started with RedSea Mature Reef Starter Kit and 45 days later had issues with the stand and has to tear down all and then restarted my Tank with TurboStart from FritzZyme and went through the diatom bloom and from my experience and knowledge I would say it’s normal to have that as it will eventually go away. Introducing the CUC such as snails Torchus, Nassarius, Margarita and Asteria will help you with this problem a little. The corals you should’ve waited at least few more months but I can’t comment or suggest. I would just wait and be patient as it’s all about waiting in this hobby. Don’t do too many things as that will create more and more issues. Let Mother Nature do it’s thing. Just make sure your pH, Salinity, Temp is monitored daily along with Ammonia, Nitrite, and Nitrate are checked as often as weekly. Do your regular maintenance and you will surely pass this diatoms bloom. Hope this helps and happy reefing..

 

[BeejReef]

They will go away on their own.
I heard many, many different recommendations on them when I had them. One thought that resonated with me was to let them grow and remove the silicates from your system so you can be done with them. That's essentially what I did. Once they appeared to have maxed out, I siphoned the sand a little and added a couple snails.

In my case, two good sized turbo snails rampaged through the diatoms in under two days in a 65g.