Diatoms in new tank

[Kial]

tanks been running about 4 weeks now and have diatoms growing badly on my sand and slowly starting to overcome the rock on right side of tank.
Should I avoid trying to clean any of it off and just let it do its thing?

Got a small clean up crew of snails in there but seem to not touch anything, 2 yellowtail damsels being added possibly tomorrow. Will these diatoms get worse once the damsels go in and I start feeding?

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

Are you sure they are diatoms ? Brown dusty , feels a bit like wet chalk in your fingers?

Some gfo will help pull the silicates out of the water column.

And yea , lowering the bio mass is always good.

You can put a poly pad over the return pump, it'll pull some of the silicates and also help polish the water when you low thatbstuff off.

 

[Kial]

I haven't touched any of it but it is a rusty colour, especially on the rock.

I'll look into the gfo as I don't really know anything about it.

 

[ReeferMadness80G]

I just went through this, welcome to a few months of hello! Be patient, you can always post here and we’ll remind you.

 

[Kial]

I said to myself to make sure I'm patiant in this but looking at an ugly tank sucks haha!
Just hope it doesn't turn into a major issue as it has in sone tanks I've seen on the forum.

 

[ReeferMadness80G]

What kind of rock did you use?

 

[Kial]

Caribsea dry rock

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

Don't be afraid to get it on your fingers. Pinch and squish.and yes , i smell stuff too.

 

[Kial]

I'll try see what it feels like on the rock

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

It does not taste as good as it looks.
So ya know.

 

[ReeferMadness80G]

I’m gonna assume you’re curing the rock during the cycle? Try and get your hands on some microbacter7, it’ll help kickstart your tanks cycle. Throw a piece of live rock in there from the LFS or a friends tank. And use this time to learn everything you can about reef tanks.

 

[ReeferMadness80G]

And I’m not pimpin my thread or anything but check out my build and you can see what some of the stages of the cycle to expect. It’s just starting to finish up about 4-5months after starting.

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

Gfo , granular ferric oxide is a binder. It pulls certain things out of the water , like iron copper silicates and most famously phosphates.

Poly pad is a similar binder , but is made into a pad. Gfo is more aggressive.

 

[Kial]

The rock has been in the tank for a while now. Started the actual cycle fully using the red Sea mature pro kit, seems to of cycled as I had the spikes and nitrate went really high etc but I held off getting any fish until this week. (Red Sea recommended getting one day 15 I think?)
I find all my spare time is spent on reef forums now lol

 

[Kial]

I'l take a look

 

[Kial]

Th

Gfo , granular ferric oxide is a binder. It pulls certain things out of the water , like iron copper silicates and most famously phosphates.

Poly pad is a similar binder , but is made into a pad. Gfo is more aggressive.

Thanks I'll have a look into it now

 

[ReeferMadness80G]

You will go through the algal phase of the cycle once you add a substantial bioload.

 

[Kial]

The part I'm dreading haha