Diatom starting

[swoons]

Noticed I’m getting brown spots on my back glass and patches in my sand bed. I’m wondering what suggestions are to suppress this and suggestions to avoid it in the future.
Tank is a 40 breeder
Have an aqua clear 50 and octo reef 1000 hang on back skimmer
Current cuc is very small:
2 blue legged hermits
2 astrea snails
2 trochus

 

[ItsAName]

How long has the tank been established?
Do you use RO/DI?
Do you have power heads moving the water around?
Is there sunlight that hits the tank?
Is your sand black or white?

 

[swoons]

How long has the tank been established?
Do you use RO/DI?
Do you have power heads moving the water around?
Is there sunlight that hits the tank?
Is your sand black or white?

tank has been established for only a couple weeks now
ive been using distilled for water changes and top ups but original fill was with conditioned tap water
I just added a second power head today
sand is white

 

[ItsAName]

I battled diatoms for about 6 months. Most people usually only have to battle it for a month or so, but I think mine was extended due to "I didn't know what I was doing" and "I was using black sand"

Couple of tips to help you that I found useful. First, diatoms are usually caused by excess silicia in the water. Silicia usually comes from your rocks or water. If it's from your rocks, it will just take time for them to finish seeping into the water and will eventually go away. If it's from the water, then you should start using RO/DI water, otherwise it will never go away. If you use your own RO/DI water, I found that SilicaBuster can help for really troublesome water.

The next thing that helps is increasing the flow in your tank and having snails that like to move the sand around. For instance, nassarius snails.

Next, I found putting filters over the powerheads tends to trap alot of the diatoms in the tanks. Put filters on and clean them every 2-3 days. For instance, something like this: https://www.bulkreefsupply.com/vortech-mp20-mp40w-foam-guards-3-pack.html You can make your own if you want. Try once a day blowing the diatoms off the rocks too to get them into the water and into the filters.

This can help them go away much faster than on their own.

 

[swoons]

I battled diatoms for about 6 months. Most people usually only have to battle it for a month or so, but I think mine was extended due to "I didn't know what I was doing" and "I was using black sand"

Couple of tips to help you that I found useful. First, diatoms are usually caused by excess silicia in the water. Silicia usually comes from your rocks or water. If it's from your rocks, it will just take time for them to finish seeping into the water and will eventually go away. If it's from the water, then you should start using RO/DI water, otherwise it will never go away. If you use your own RO/DI water, I found that SilicaBuster can help for really troublesome water.

The next thing that helps is increasing the flow in your tank and having snails that like to move the sand around. For instance, nassarius snails.

Next, I found putting filters over the powerheads tends to trap alot of the diatoms in the tanks. Put filters on and clean them every 2-3 days. For instance, something like this: https://www.bulkreefsupply.com/vortech-mp20-mp40w-foam-guards-3-pack.html You can make your own if you want. Try once a day blowing the diatoms off the rocks too to get them into the water and into the filters.

This can help them go away much faster than on their own.

6 months? Sounds like it's going to be a headache. Im hoping the increased flow will help. Looking to add to the clean up crew. But wondering how I can get rid of the patches in my sand right now to make sure it doesnt spread all over my tank.

You said they go away on their own too? Is that true

 

[mcarroll]

Noticed I’m getting brown spots on my back glass and patches in my sand bed. I’m wondering what suggestions are to suppress this and suggestions to avoid it in the future.
Tank is a 40 breeder
Have an aqua clear 50 and octo reef 1000 hang on back skimmer
Current cuc is very small:
2 blue legged hermits
2 astrea snails
2 trochus

Look over some of the threads that come up from this search:
uglies

 

[Littlemikey]

I used A product called vibrant after I had a second bout of diatoms that last a bit. Tank maturity plays a part in the battle as well

 

[1WildBill]

Your tank is still young. You can try chemicals, blowing off the diatom dust,it’s all part of the cycle to get your tank stable. The next phase is algae. The best thing you can do for your tank is just let it run thru the cycles and keep your water parameters in line.

 

[Huff747]

I don't know if it's coincidence or if it was just time for my diatoms to go away but I had ordered some pods to seed my new tank and within a couple days of adding the pods and feeding them some phyto my diatoms were pretty well gone. But from what I've read and what others have mentioned when a tank is new you're going to go through diatoms and best to let them do their thing. Not sure I'd resort to chemicals at this point.

 

[ItsAName]

I don't know if it's coincidence or if it was just time for my diatoms to go away but I had ordered some pods to seed my new tank and within a couple days of adding the pods and feeding them some phyto my diatoms were pretty well gone. But from what I've read and what others have mentioned when a tank is new you're going to go through diatoms and best to let them do their thing. Not sure I'd resort to chemicals at this point.

Ah yes! I forgot about this. I also added a bunch of pods with phyto and that's when I really started to notice it go away.

 

[Sherman]

I have the same problem also. But mine come as a brown sheet and only on the rockscape.
I still dose phyto and just add pods 2 days ago.
The brown still around. Shall I blown it off?

 

[Dennis McGrath]

That look more like cyano or maybe dinos.

 

[Sherman]

That look more like cyano or maybe dinos.

Oh I thought cyano is dark maroon ?

 

[ItsAName]

If its dusty, more likely diatoms
If its webby and forming sheets, probably not diatoms.
Do you see air bubbles on it?

 

[Sherman]

If its dusty, more likely diatoms
If its webby and forming sheets, probably not diatoms.
Do you see air bubbles on it?

Hi ItsAName thank u for sharing.
Confirm not dusty. Its in sheet form and a lot of air bubbles. But not slimmy

 

[cristata.reef]

6 months? Sounds like it's going to be a headache. Im hoping the increased flow will help. Looking to add to the clean up crew. But wondering how I can get rid of the patches in my sand right now to make sure it doesnt spread all over my tank.

You said they go away on their own too? Is that true

Don't bother adding clean up crew atm. Nitrates will only fuel the growth of diatoms. Take a breath and just go slow. Since your tank is new the diatoms are expected for at least a few weeks and sometimes even a few months (mine took 3ish months to go away). If you insist on getting more CUC members get a conch, nassarius, or some other burrowing snail to keep the sand stirred (but don't get a lot)