Nikko
Active Member
Well first off, this was intended to be a general question and kind of spiraled into a more direct question and I can't edit the heading, sorry about that!
I have had, what appears, a persistent diatom issue for about a month now. The symptoms... brownish dusty sand in various areas. Not slimy or carpet like, if I move the sand, they go away. Tiny little brownish strands. Looks like it's going away in the morning and always grows back by the time I come home from work. I have been doing 20% weekly water changes (RO water .05 ppm) with Red Sea salt. Literally comes back the next day, super annoying. It's weird because I have one piece of live rock in there right now and the diatoms leave it alone. Further, there is very little brown dusty accumulation on the glass. There is a little natural light in the room but I have actually put UV resistant film on the front door windows where it comes in. Not sure what is going on and I've been attacking it hard. Have been dosing vibrant twice a week as well.
My questions are 1) is this purely diatoms or is there some kind of other madness going on as well and 2) any thoughts on what I should do at this point? Thanks for all your help ahead of time
This pic kind of sucks, sorry..
My tank:
Established in October 2016.
90 Gallon
Currently coral (pls/soft), 6 hermit crabs, 2 emerald crabs, 1 cleaner shrimp and 1 fighting conch. Have fish in QT ready to move.
Specific gravity: 1.025
Phosphates: 0.06
Alkalinity: 7.2
Ph: 8.2
Ammonium: 0
Nitrites: 0
Nitrates: 0.3
Calcium: 420
Magnesium: 1240
Temperature: 78 degrees
Lights: Kessil A360 WE tuna blue (7 hours - 50% intensity / 40% color
Flow: 1 Vortech mp40 QD (nutrient export setting 50%)
Protein skimmer: reef octopus classic 150INT
Internal pump: Vectra M1 DC
ATO: Tunze osmolator
Aragonite sand bed
I have had, what appears, a persistent diatom issue for about a month now. The symptoms... brownish dusty sand in various areas. Not slimy or carpet like, if I move the sand, they go away. Tiny little brownish strands. Looks like it's going away in the morning and always grows back by the time I come home from work. I have been doing 20% weekly water changes (RO water .05 ppm) with Red Sea salt. Literally comes back the next day, super annoying. It's weird because I have one piece of live rock in there right now and the diatoms leave it alone. Further, there is very little brown dusty accumulation on the glass. There is a little natural light in the room but I have actually put UV resistant film on the front door windows where it comes in. Not sure what is going on and I've been attacking it hard. Have been dosing vibrant twice a week as well.
My questions are 1) is this purely diatoms or is there some kind of other madness going on as well and 2) any thoughts on what I should do at this point? Thanks for all your help ahead of time
This pic kind of sucks, sorry..
My tank:
Established in October 2016.
90 Gallon
Currently coral (pls/soft), 6 hermit crabs, 2 emerald crabs, 1 cleaner shrimp and 1 fighting conch. Have fish in QT ready to move.
Specific gravity: 1.025
Phosphates: 0.06
Alkalinity: 7.2
Ph: 8.2
Ammonium: 0
Nitrites: 0
Nitrates: 0.3
Calcium: 420
Magnesium: 1240
Temperature: 78 degrees
Lights: Kessil A360 WE tuna blue (7 hours - 50% intensity / 40% color
Flow: 1 Vortech mp40 QD (nutrient export setting 50%)
Protein skimmer: reef octopus classic 150INT
Internal pump: Vectra M1 DC
ATO: Tunze osmolator
Aragonite sand bed
