Diatom breakout? or something else?

[SANMan]

Just some healthy paranoia, but wanted to get some opinions. Tank came online on Feb 2nd, cycled in 3.5 weeks, had a small diatom growth about a week and half ago, then it all disappeared. Set up a QT tank using water from the DT and did my first water change as a result. Next day, this... It's growing so fast I can see changes in spread by the hour. I'm cleaning the glass daily and started running the skimmer. All normal, or should I worry? Have 4 Hermits and 4 snails. They are certainly not keeping up. There is a lot of green on the rock and glass. The sand is predominately the diatom brown.

 

[SANMan]

Also seeing some microbubbles in the growth. You can see it in the images

 

[SANMan]

**Please Help!**

Update, Really need some help here. Tank has not changed for the better, in fact its a bit worse. I have decreased the lighting significantly, basically only having whites from 9-5, and total darkness most of the night until morning.

Latest water tests show a slight rise in Nitrites and Ammonia:
Current readings are pH 8.0, Ammonia 0.1ppm, Nitrites 0.25ppm Nitrates 20ppm

I am scrubbing the glass daily. That seems to be more of a green film as opposed to brown. The diatoms, if that's truly what they are, are growing to about an 1/8" mostly, although I have knocked some (2) off that were over an inch in length. The skimmer is collecting some pretty ugly slime and I am emptying once or twice daily. This really took off after my first water change once the cycle was completed.

The reason that there is clear sand at the edges is that I stir it up when cleaning the glass. If I am just being impatient and this is normal, I can accept that, but I just want to make sure I'm not letting a bad situation get worse.

 

[Kellie in CA]

If there are no corals in the tank, I would just turn the light off. Wait a week, then give it another try.

 

[reefer7891]

I started a tank 2 months ago and went through the same. I had 50lb or dry rock and 60lb of live rock. The dry rocks exploded with every algae on earth but it seems the live rocks stabilized the system. Might have to do with the bio organisms that live in long term live rocks. My advice would be check your nitrate and phosphate. If it looks good then cut down on your feeding, keep up with minor cleaning (scraping glass and vacuuming slimy spots that come off east, and letting your tank cycle will your dry rocks develop those necessary organisms.) I enjoyed it a lot. I take photos because the time lapses are awesome.

Major advice: my tank turned the corner when the amphipod community took off. Having no wet rock or coral plugs you may not have any of these organisms that would help you balance the micro grow that would be found in NSW. No phyto or micro grazers is why dry rock setups may have this problem. If your tank can support it and you feel comfortable. Adding copepods, photos, and amphipod a can give you a quick natural turnaround since there’s no predators. I just tried Algaebarn and was impressed with their product.

BTW my tank gets 2-3 hours of sunlight a day.

 

[SANMan]

If there are no corals in the tank, I would just turn the light off. Wait a week, then give it another try.

Easy enough. Just did. Let's see what happens. Thank you!

 

[SANMan]

I started a tank 2 months ago and went through the same. I had 50lb or dry rock and 60lb of live rock. The dry rocks exploded with every algae on earth but it seems the live rocks stabilized the system. Might have to do with the bio organisms that live in long term live rocks. My advice would be check your nitrate and phosphate. If it looks good then cut down on your feeding, keep up with minor cleaning (scraping glass and vacuuming slimy spots that come off east, and letting your tank cycle will your dry rocks develop those necessary organisms.) I enjoyed it a lot. I take photos because the time lapses are awesome.

Major advice: my tank turned the corner when the amphipod community took off. Having no wet rock or coral plugs you may not have any of these organisms that would help you balance the micro grow that would be found in NSW. No phyto or micro grazers is why dry rock setups may have this problem. If your tank can support it and you feel comfortable. Adding copepods, photos, and amphipod a can give you a quick natural turnaround since there’s no predators. I just tried Algaebarn and was impressed with their product.

BTW my tank gets 2-3 hours of sunlight a day.

So, I did all dry rock. It has been up since Feb 2nd. Nothing living in tank except CUC, so not feeding. They have plenty to eat right now obviously and are doing a terrible job. I am writing a letter to their labor union to express my displeasure... I dig the adding copepods, photos, and amphipod idea, but I think that may be a bit advanced. Also dealing with a 32Gal BioCube, so I want any adds to be minimal to avoid major crashes of any sort. If I am being too timid, I welcome the feedback. I think I'll try the simple light idea for a week and see what that brings, then go from there. Really appreciate the help!

 

[Stuartmercer]

Yea those are no diatoms, those are dinoflaggelates. Cant say what the species is, but a long blackout should solve it since you have no corals. A big part of the problem is the fact nothing can compete with them since the tank is new, killing them off with a black out and adding biodiversity like phytoplankton or copepods or even bottled bacteria will help prevent it in the future.

 

[reefer7891]

So, I did all dry rock. It has been up since Feb 2nd. Nothing living in tank except CUC, so not feeding. They have plenty to eat right now obviously and are doing a terrible job. I am writing a letter to their labor union to express my displeasure... I dig the adding copepods, photos, and amphipod idea, but I think that may be a bit advanced. Also dealing with a 32Gal BioCube, so I want any adds to be minimal to avoid major crashes of any sort. If I am being too timid, I welcome the feedback. I think I'll try the simple light idea for a week and see what that brings, then go from there. Really appreciate the help!

No worries man I’m new too. I have a lot of experience prior to 2011 lol. But I’m starting with a low tech low budget tank of equipment 10+ years old. I’m (hopefully) educated enough so that I can experiment on my tank. As long as my fish are fat and coral keep eating and growing I’m going to do my thing.

Adding the phyto and copepods is like adding a live rock with all its benefits. With no hitchhikers (and coralline of course lol). Honestly doing a light shutdown will only set you back because the dead algae will decompose and feed future algae growth.

Here’s my experience with the safest 1 and most radical at 6. You only need to do one or the other. Doing more or mixing may mess up water stability.

WARNING: I would highly recommend testing water perimeter before and after for every method.

1: 5 percent water change 2 times a week till you see improvement.

2: Scrape and brush plus a 25 percent water change.

3: add bio organisms ie. good bacteria, phyto, and pods. A live rock can be used but watch out for the beach bums trying to catch a ride.

4: scrape plus brush with 50 percent water change.

5: lights off for 3 days then 20 percent twice a week for 2 weeks.

6: Using something like Vibrant ( this can be completely safe because it’s all bacteria but it will come back once you run out of the bottle and your tank is not balanced. Also it completely eradicates algae this not allowing you to build a stable ecosystem.

Honestly I would recommend keeping up with normal maintenance and let your tank mature. Just keep in mind it may not reach natural reef status without a balanced ecosystem.

disclaimer: I don’t work or promote anyone. I’m just a bored guy with a tank locked in a house.

 

[SANMan]

Yea those are no diatoms, those are dinoflaggelates. Cant say what the species is, but a long blackout should solve it since you have no corals. A big part of the problem is the fact nothing can compete with them since the tank is new, killing them off with a black out and adding biodiversity like phytoplankton or copepods or even bottled bacteria will help prevent it in the future.

Wow! I was worried it may be that. I just dosed the tank with Microbe-Lift Nite-Out II Starter bacteria. It's what I used to start the tank up. I had stopped once the tank had cycled. I think I will go the phytoplankton and copepods as reefer7891 had also suggested. Lights are out. Thank you!

 

[Stuartmercer]

Wow! I was worried it may be that. I just dosed the tank with Microbe-Lift Nite-Out II Starter bacteria. It's what I used to start the tank up. I had stopped once the tank had cycled. I think I will go the phytoplankton and copepods as reefer7891 had also suggested. Lights are out. Thank you!

Of course!

 

[SANMan]

No worries man I’m new too. I have a lot of experience prior to 2011 lol. But I’m starting with a low tech low budget tank of equipment 10+ years old. I’m (hopefully) educated enough so that I can experiment on my tank. As long as my fish are fat and coral keep eating and growing I’m going to do my thing.

Adding the phyto and copepods is like adding a live rock with all its benefits. With no hitchhikers (and coralline of course lol). Honestly doing a light shutdown will only set you back because the dead algae will decompose and feed future algae growth.

Here’s my experience with the safest 1 and most radical at 6. You only need to do one or the other. Doing more or mixing may mess up water stability.

WARNING: I would highly recommend testing water perimeter before and after for every method.

1: 5 percent water change 2 times a week till you see improvement.

2: Scrape and brush plus a 25 percent water change.

3: add bio organisms ie. good bacteria, phyto, and pods. A live rock can be used but watch out for the beach bums trying to catch a ride.

4: scrape plus brush with 50 percent water change.

5: lights off for 3 days then 20 percent twice a week for 2 weeks.

6: Using something like Vibrant ( this can be completely safe because it’s all bacteria but it will come back once you run out of the bottle and your tank is not balanced. Also it completely eradicates algae this not allowing you to build a stable ecosystem.

Honestly I would recommend keeping up with normal maintenance and let your tank mature. Just keep in mind it may not reach natural reef status without a balanced ecosystem.

disclaimer: I don’t work or promote anyone. I’m just a bored guy with a tank locked in a house.

If I go the Algae Barn route, do those organisms need the lights on? My tank gets no sunlight. Thanks Again!

 

[reefer7891]

If I go the Algae Barn route, do those organisms need the lights on? My tank gets no sunlight. Thanks Again!

Phytoplankton need light. Copepods don’t but they need phytoplankton and nuisance algae as food tho lol.

visit their site. You gotta take all the research they do with a grain of salt since they’re selling you stuff. But they do a great job backing their product with developmental research.

 

[SANMan]

I wanted to express gratitude to all who answered my plea for assistance. Here is what I did.
Thurs: Immediately turned off the lights at 3:00pm. Dosed with NiteOut II Bacteria
Friday: AM, already noticed a slight improvement (decrease) in dino population. Dosed with NiteOut II Bacteria. I installed my new inTank media rack and fuge rack complete with filter floss, Chemipure and Purigen, performed a 10% water change with RO/DI. Kept lights off.
Saturday: Improvement continued. Dosed with NiteOut II Bacteria. Kept lights off.
Sunday: Results unbelievable. Pictures below. kept lights off
Monday: Lights back on in limited fashion. Will see what happens. Hoping for the best.

 

[SANMan]

Update!

Turned the lights back on, limited from 9 to 5, instead of full cycle and those Dynos started their party again. That's it, I bought the phytos and Copepods! Should be here by the weekend.

 

[homer1475]

Thats because it's diatoms, not dinos. I see nothing that looks like dino's to me and I've battled them many times. Being your tank is only a couple weeks old, leads me to believe it's diatoms and not dino's too.

Only way to tell for sure is to get a cheap microscope and post a pic in the dino ID thread. Short of that, there is the coffee filter test also.

 

[Shmollica]

Thats because it's diatoms, not dinos. I see nothing that looks like dino's to me and I've battled them many times. Being your tank is only a couple weeks old, leads me to believe it's diatoms and not dino's too.

Only way to tell for sure is to get a cheap microscope and post a pic in the dino ID thread. Short of that, there is the coffee filter test also.

I agree with homer, those are not dinos, they are diatoms. They will go away naturally with time as long as you aren’t adding more silica to the water

 

[SANMan]

Ok. So what happened previously was the tank went brown, and then the brown went into a growth stage where they were up to an inch long in some cases completely clouding the tank. At night, they would recede somewhat, and once light hit them again, it was party time. with no light they almost completely disappeared, except for minimal brown areas that look more like diatoms. I am using RO/DI water for water changes, so not sure how I would be adding additional silica, but that could be my ignorance as a newbie. I still think the Refugium/Phyto/Copepod idea is sound regardless, but may not be the answer to what I am seeing from what you are stating

 

[Rmckoy]

That looks like diatoms to me .
the start of the uglies stages . It’s a process of eliminating silicate which is consumed by the ugly brown diatoms you’re seeing .

without any livestock or ammonia source there really is no way to begin the nitrogen cycle .

 

[Arabyps]

I experienced a similar phenomenon with diatoms. As a final resort I had an ICP water analysis performed. It turns out my RO/DI water had high silicates but my TDS meter read zero. Water changes simply added back silicates. It seems silicates can pass through a DI filter once exhausted for silicate removal. I changed the DI cartridge which removed the silicates. Now I monitor my production of RO/DI water and change the DI cartridge every 500-600 gallons.