diatoms wont go away

[spiraling]

Hey everyone,
I have a diatom problem. They have been persistent and heavy in my tank for about 3 months and I'm wondering when/how they should go away.

My tank was started with dry rock (cured many weeks) with black carib-sea sand. Water went in the tank early February and diatoms started in March, just after the tank cycled. Pretty consistent brown dust everywhere. I need to clean the glass every other day or i can't really see into the tank. I now also have a bit of red cyano, which I expect in the new tank. the diatoms blow off the rock and glass like dust, so i'm guessing they are not dinos, but that is only an assumption. I don't have access to a scope to tell.

red sea 525 xl
temp 76.5 - 78 daily swing
ca 400 - 420 (weekly swing, still measuring to get doser going)
alk - 7.5 - 8 (weekly swing)
mg (not measured, need a new kit)
ph 8 - 8.2 daily swing
nitrate - was 0, have been dosing to get to >1ppm
phosphate was 0 have been dosing to get to > .04ppm
BRS 6 stage RODI, all filters changed in Feb
skimmer and socks emptied every 2 - 3 days
running biopellets and carbon in reactors.
occasionally dose red sea colors and red sea reef energy

I have sps, lps, softies, RTBA, clown fish. I feed them twice a day, and am heavy on the feeding.

I had diatoms with and without nitrate and phosphate, so I doubt they are fueling it.

Will they go away on their own, or is there something I should be changing to get rid of them? I do blast them off the rocks and sand about 2 -3 times per week, and clean the glass every 1 - 2 days.

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

You can post a picture and maybe we can help the Id. But it would be dusty kinda and not snotty.
It generally goes away.
You might be able to help a bit by running gfo in a high flow area if you don't have a reactor.

 

[spiraling]

You can post a picture and maybe we can help the Id. But it would be dusty kinda and not snotty.
It generally goes away.
You might be able to help a bit by running gfo in a high flow area if you don't have a reactor.

I have a gfo reactor which is empty, and the biopellets can drive my phosphate to 0. But reading several articles has me to believe that I don't necessarily want them at 0 and that can cause (among other things) outbreaks of hard to remove algae. Thats why I started dosing nitrate and phosphate (seachem freshwater products used by quite a few reefers)

Most people say it goes away in a few weeks, but I'm past 4 months now. That's why I'm wondering if I have something wonky.

The rock on the left I just easily blew off with a turkey baster. There are some bubbles in the algae you can see on the top right.

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

I don't think it wonky no.
Your correct on the po4 stripping.
The silicates will also bind to the gfo so you could add smal amounts and change more frequently.
Or just ride it out really.
I'm assuming your on rodi etc so your not adding anything odd.

 

[spiraling]

I don't think it wonky no.
Your correct on the po4 stripping.
The silicates will also bind to the gfo so you could add smal amounts and change more frequently.
Or just ride it out really.
I'm assuming your on rodi etc so your not adding anything odd.

Thanks Salty,
I'll try a little GFO this weekend and see how it goes.

Will a silicon cutting board cause silicates used by the diatoms? I do have one in the tank.

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

Thanks Salty,
I'll try a little GFO this weekend and see how it goes.

Will a silicon cutting board cause silicates used by the diatoms? I do have one in the tank.

Nope.
Silicone. And silicates are different.

What's that for ?

 

[spiraling]

Nope.
Silicone. And silicates are different.

What's that for ?

Good.

Because my nem wants to go to the backside. He is attached under an arch. I put a board there to "train" him to go to the front. All in all he is pretty stubborn only going to the front 2/3 days after several weeks. Hey, they can train dragons on TV, so I'll try to train a nem.

I have used them in previous tanks for platforms for skimmers, and have also used the soft silicon pads for noise reduction under pumps.

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

Hahaha. That's cool! I'll make a note.

I just do what the nem tells me.