Diatoms or Dinoflagellates?

SuperNarwhal46 · May 5, 2022

Hello!

I came home from school this afternoon and noticed that my newly-cycled tank has had an algae bloom. Could I get an ID and treatment plan? My guess is that it is dinos because there is absolutely nothing in the tank right now except for live rock. There are also little bubbles that form on top of the algae. I have a 75 gallon long tank with a 30 g sump. Ammonia/Nitrite/Nitrate all at 0.
I was thinking about dosing hydrogen peroxide, but I don't know how much to dose. I would appreciate any help!

Lavey29 · May 5, 2022

Looks like diatoms. Why are you running lights with nothing in the tank? Give it 3 or 4 months to build biodiversity with some fish in there then add corals and lights if you want. Diatoms go away on their own in a few weeks when the silicate is gone.

SuperNarwhal46 · May 5, 2022

Lavey29 said:
Looks like diatoms. Why are you running lights with nothing in the tank? Give it 3 or 4 months to build biodiversity with some fish in there then add corals and lights if you want. Diatoms go away on their own in a few weeks when the silicate is gone.

I'm pretty new to reefing, sorry!

I have some clownfish in a smaller tank at the moment, and I will move them into the big tank shortly. Will the diatoms go away after I put the fish in?

Lavey29 · May 5, 2022

SuperNarwhal46 said:
I'm pretty new to reefing, sorry!
I have some clownfish in a smaller tank at the moment, and I will move them into the big tank shortly. Will the diatoms go away after I put the fish in?

Yes typically in 3 weeks or so. If your RODI water has no silicate they should not return. If your tank is completely cycled you can add fish slowly. Clowns carry disease and you would be wise to have them in a full 30 day QT tank with copper and prazi pro treatment. They are know to be carriers of brook otherwise know as clownfish disease. You can leave lights off first 4 months and build biodiversity with bacteria and pods and phytoplankton. That way your ugly phases will be more manageable.

SuperNarwhal46 · May 5, 2022

Lavey29 said:
Yes typically in 3 weeks or so. If your RODI water has no silicate they should not return. If your tank is completely cycled you can add fish slowly. Clowns carry disease and you would be wise to have them in a full 30 day QT tank with copper and prazi pro treatment. They are know to be carriers of brook otherwise know as clownfish disease. You can leave lights off first 4 months and build biodiversity with bacteria and pods and phytoplankton. That way your ugly phases will be more manageable.

I think I can skip a quarantine... I have had these clownfish for around 4 months now with no bad effects. Sounds good!