Diatomes - 5+ Months In

[See Gee Sea]

So I seemed to have had a delayed onset of diatomes. I used Nature's Ocean Nutri Seawater when I started, live sand and, some live rock mixed in with cultured live rock. Back in February I had some coralline algae growing and then came the diatomes. Light bio load Nitrates are < .25PPM, Phosphates are at 0 PPM (both tested using API test kits), using RODI water with 0 TDS, lighting is 2 Red Sea LED 90s set to 12 hours a day at 75%. Is it worth while to spend the money on a silicate test kit or use something like Phosguard or Vibrant? Also, did the diatomes smother the coralline? Thanks!

 

[andrewey]

Your tank is new enough that the diatoms could be just part of your tank working things out. Everyone gets the diatoms right after the tank finishes cycling, but in the first year, it's not uncommon to have some smattering of diatoms as the rock breaks down and the top layer is exposed. Also, if you've added anything recently (new rock, anything plastic, frag plugs, etc.) that could explain their presence. I certainly wouldn't use vibrant in this situation, and while you could use a product like phosguard if you thought you had excess silicates, I would usually wait and let it play itself out. In most cases, the diatoms should naturally go away on their own once they finish up.