Diatoms persistent...

[toadstool_paradise]

Honestly I’m at my wits end..I’ve posted many times about my diatom problem. Tank running with no pest algae at all for two years and randomly broke out in a huge diatom bloom, or what I ASSUME is diatoms. Killed all of my inverts. ALL of them. Snails and hermits. My Nitrates and Phosphates have been incredibly high. Nitrates ranging from 20-50 and phosphates as high as .27.
Params good ammonia 0 nitrites 0 salinity 1.025 temp 78. 3 fish feed lightly every other day and siphon out what is not eaten.

The diatoms have overwhelmed my corals..toadstools haven’t been out for months. Always shedding brown goo. All my mushrooms have melted bizarrely. Zoas melted. Palys melted. The diatoms are on my glass I could scrape it 4x a day and it comes back within an hour or two. Covers rocks. Covers sand. Dusty when blown off or scraped off.


-Tried Phosguard with no effect
-Tried adding more pods and phyto dosing
-Tried 50% water changes 2x a week no effect
-Tried activated carbon no effect
-Have tested RODI water it checks out clean
-Changed my heater in case it was broken or leaking
-Tried poly filter with no effect did not change colors other than brown with diatoms.
-Tried Chemipure blue no effect in fact seemed to maybe get worse
-I tried gutting the ENTIRE tank. Put fish in a bucket and took out rocks and sand and scrubbed the tank and chambers clean. Got BRAND NEW rock and new sand. Diatoms appeared within the day.....

i am truly at a loss. Wanting to quit. But also not wanting to give up. Since my nitrates and phosphates are so high I’m assuming this cannot be dinoflagellates? I will attach pics. Please if anyone has any suggestions let me know I’m not an expert but thought I was a good reef keeper until this.
Pics attached are from right now. With the replaced rock and sand.

 

[gentlefish]

Did you do an ICP test for Silicate?
Understand that phosphate and nitrate are not 0, but one aspect looks a bit snotty as Dinoflaggelates. Dino’s may well kill inverts, particularly snails. Suggest to microscope.

 

[gentlefish]

PS: if dinos a UV sterilizer is a good backbone to therapy and carbon is helping against toxins.

 

[toadstool_paradise]

Did you do an ICP test for Silicate?
Understand that phosphate and nitrate are not 0, but one aspect looks a bit snotty as Dinoflaggelates. Dino’s may well kill inverts, particularly snails. Suggest to microscope.

I have not run an ICP test yet.

 

[toadstool_paradise]

Welp..as I posted that I decided to clean off my many toadstools. They legit all CRUMBLED off and were rotton on the inside. I’m done. I’ve never seen a toadstool rot and they are all dead.

 

[gentlefish]

So sorry... do you have a microscope? Diatoms are quite distinct...
I know this hobby can be so heartbreaking, had 2 crashes myself. It’s hard to continue at times.

 

[toadstool_paradise]

So sorry... do you have a microscope? Diatoms are quite distinct...
I know this hobby can be so heartbreaking, had 2 crashes myself. It’s hard to continue at times.

I don’t have one but when I go to work on Thursday I can use theirs. I’m probably going to give up for a while. Fish seem unaffected. Maybe I will give away my fish and come back a different time. I’m very sad I’ve had these corals for years and to see them rot is baffling.

 

[Greg P]

Have you tried dosing some phyto? You'll want to see some green algae grow to out compete the diatoms

 

[gentlefish]

It’s a beautiful picture. How about fish only until it’s balanced?

 

[Greg P]

I had a similar issue a year ago, but with low N&P.
I dosed N&P and phyto. Once green started growing the brown eventually went away.
Took about 3-4 weeks

 

[vetteguy53081]

The rot stems from what is turning into dino. I will give you a treatment plan as Not everyone has either access r budget for a UV unit. You have quite a few coral pieces in the tank so run blues at 15% during the 5 day period which you can take to 7 days. This stuff Will be gone. Also increase your water flow slightly.
First- Check phosphates and nitrates to assure theyre not elevated.
Here is full program:
Prepare by starting with a water change and blow this stuff loose with a turkey baster and siphon up loose particles.
Turn lights off (at least white and run blue at 10-15%) for 5 days and at night dose 1ml of hydrogen peroxide per 10 gallons for all 5 nights. If you dont have light dependent coral- turn all lights off.
During the day dose 1ml of liquid bacteria (such as bacter 7) per 10 gallons.
Clean filters daily and DO NOT FEED CORAL FOODS OR ADD NOPOX as it is food for dinos.
Day 5,, you can start with blue lights - ramping up and work your white lights up slowly

 

[saltyhog]

Diatoms are not toxic. I would be willing to bet they are as suggested above dinos. Always best to identify the species as they are far different in how they act. Unfortunately with the way they are affecting your corals I would bet they are ostreopsis. What size is your tank? Any of your friends have access to a microscope?

I really have had zero luck with blackouts and ostreopsis. They just go in to the water column to come back in force when the lights come back on. They seem to be better at killing corals to me. Adding biodiversity can help and actually encouraging diatoms can help. Sorry you're having to deal with this....been there, done that. Some people have had some success with H2O2 dosing but it can have negative impact on some corals too.

Check out the sticky thread above . Lots of useful information there .

 

[toadstool_paradise]

The rot stems from what is turning into dino. I will give you a treatment plan as Not everyone has either access r budget for a UV unit. You have quite a few coral pieces in the tank so run blues at 15% during the 5 day period which you can take to 7 days. This stuff Will be gone. Also increase your water flow slightly.
First- Check phosphates and nitrates to assure theyre not elevated.
Here is full program:
Prepare by starting with a water change and blow this stuff loose with a turkey baster and siphon up loose particles.
Turn lights off (at least white and run blue at 10-15%) for 5 days and at night dose 1ml of hydrogen peroxide per 10 gallons for all 5 nights. If you dont have light dependent coral- turn all lights off.
During the day dose 1ml of liquid bacteria (such as bacter 7) per 10 gallons.
Clean filters daily and DO NOT FEED CORAL FOODS OR ADD NOPOX as it is food for dinos.
Day 5,, you can start with blue lights - ramping up and work your white lights up slowly

That was a pic of my tank before the diatoms hit. Every single coral is dead now. The white light was down a lot and I tried dosing 1 ml bacteria per day too and that did not help. :/ yes my phos and nitrates are elevated. I can try peroxide dosing but there are no corals to save now. But willing to try it for my fish. I always assumed dinos are from lack of nutrients so was confused my phosphate and nitrates are high. At this point might quit. Debating

 

[toadstool_paradise]

I had a similar issue a year ago, but with low N&P.
I dosed N&P and phyto. Once green started growing the brown eventually went away.
Took about 3-4 weeks

Yes have been dosing phyto. That pic is my tank before this happened now every single coral is dead

Diatoms are not toxic. I would be willing to bet they are as suggested above dinos. Always best to identify the species as they are far different in how they act. Unfortunately with the way they are affecting your corals I would bet they are ostreopsis. What size is your tank? Any of your friends have access to a microscope?

I really have had zero luck with blackouts and ostreopsis. They just go in to the water column to come back in force when the lights come back on. They seem to be better at killing corals to me. Adding biodiversity can help and actually encouraging diatoms can help. Sorry you're having to deal with this....been there, done that. Some people have had some success with H2O2 dosing but it can have negative impact on some corals too.

Check out the sticky thread above . Lots of useful information there .

Can use a microscope at work on Thursday. Every coral is dead so no worries killing anything with peroxide dosing anymore. Will try.

 

[vetteguy53081]

That was a pic of my tank before the diatoms hit. Every single coral is dead now. The white light was down a lot and I tried dosing 1 ml bacteria per day too and that did not help. :/ yes my phos and nitrates are elevated. I can try peroxide dosing but there are no corals to save now. But willing to try it for my fish. I always assumed dinos are from lack of nutrients so was confused my phosphate and nitrates are high. At this point might quit. Debating

Add a pouch of chemipure Elite which will keep your phosphate and nitrate in check

 

[saltyhog]

Yes have been dosing phyto. That pic is my tank before this happened now every single coral is dead

Can use a microscope at work on Thursday. Every coral is dead so no worries killing anything with peroxide dosing anymore. Will try.

A video would be best. Sometimes their movement is very telling .

 

[toadstool_paradise]

Add a pouch of chemipure Elite which will keep your phosphate and nitrate in check

I have been using chemipure blue

A video would be best. Sometimes their movement is very telling .

Ok I will do my best.

 

[saltyhog]

I have been using chemipure blue

Ok I will do my best.

Be very careful with anything containing GFO, you do not want to be aggressive with reducing nutrients if it is dinos. That almost always makes it worse.

 

[gentlefish]

I don’t think we do really get rid of dinos. We cultivate bacteria that consume them, but they come back if we do not pay attention. And with those bacteria we may need phosphate/nitrate. My 525 Red Sea was doing fantastic 10 months after the battle start. No Dino’s for 6 month. I believe a new yet faulty heater that started to electroshock me broke the equilibrium.

 

[saltyhog]

I don’t think we do really get rid of dinos. We cultivate bacteria that consume them, but they come back if we do not pay attention. And with those bacteria we may need phosphate/nitrate. My 525 Red Sea was doing fantastic 10 months after the battle start. No Dino’s for 6 month. I believe a new yet faulty heater that started to electroshock me broke the equilibrium.

I agree. I even believe they are a normal part of the biodiversity of all tanks but become problematic when we do things that give them an advantage. I read an article a while ago that said some of them may be extruded zooanthelae from corals.