Diatom!

[Cardiak21]

I'm starting to get some diatom in the tank 2 weeks in. Should i brush the rock, siphon and do a WC? Get some snails? Carbon?

Thanks

 

[_Alex_]

Thats Normal for a new tank

 

[Troylee]

Nope just leave it... It's part of the cycle and a sign your almost done.... If your amonia and nitrite read zero than you can do a 30% water change and add a clean up crew....

 

[Cardiak21]

Thanks! What kind of clean up crew would you suggest for a 72 gallon bow?

 

[Troylee]

i use nazzirus for the sand bed and cerith for the tank....... no claws since i have a sps tank and nuke it occasionally with intercepter it kills them off.....
also got a couple thousand stomatella snails that reproduce nightly it seems....never bought any they were just hitch hikers lol....
for your tank i would start with like 20nazzirus and maybe 30 or so cerith and if you want 10 or so blue leg hermits..... just be carefull with the crabs they will eat your snails....

 

[Cardiak21]

Thanks! Quick question, should I shorten the length of my lights being on with the diatom? As it is right now i have it on a 12 hour cycle.

 

[Troylee]

Ya you can even leave them off if ya want... You don't need lights to colonize bacteria...

 

[Speg]

Ya you can even leave them off if ya want... You don't need lights to colonize bacteria...

Hmm true.. diatoms are an algae though, right?

by the way, 12 hours seems like a long time (to me) to have your lights on. My tanks seem to grow algae if I leave them on for 9 hours.

Also, keep in mind that diatoms may occur after the initial startup process of the tank. Technically it shouldn't happen, but overfeeding/high amounts of nutrients may cause a diatom bloom. Usually the tank will adjust and this will soon go away, but if the problem lasts for a while then it may be due to overfeeding or keeping the lights on too long.

 

[Troylee]

correct diatoms are a algae.... with no light's it's even better."there feeding off the energy source"..if you have no livestock there is no need for light's during a cycle at all..all you are doing is raising the population of nitrifying bacteria to out compete the bad bacteria...... i guess before i jump to a conclusion i should ask how are cycling the tank???? shrimp, fish etc.....

 

[waxy]

You just have to be patient, since there's all kinds of problems you will encounter while setting up a new system.

Let's just say you should be happy to see them now, rather than down the line when your system is fully established

 

[sprinklerdudes]

patience, it takes time, don't rush it, light on lights off, its still gotta cycle

 

[Cardiak21]

I water tested today and currently ammonia/nitrate/nitrite are all at 0. The diatom is starting to spread to the glass. Would now be a good time to get a clean up crew?

 

[makingbubbles]

I prefer conchs for the sand, they just eat more than others. And use a few dif snails for the tank.

 

[Cardiak21]

Wow, I added 10 astreas and 10 ceriths (for now) and man do they tear up the diatom!