Diatoms

Bob Lauson · Oct 31, 2017

I am into my third aquarium set up and now have a 180 gallon aquarium that is having a battle with what I believe to be diatoms - brown algae everywhere. The fish are fine and the few coral I have added are relatively healthy. The tank has been up and running for almost a year. For the first time I did not use live rock but rather the dry rock that I saved from previous set ups. (Of course it was once live rock but moving from state to state did not allow me the ability to get everything transferred to new aquarium so I keep starting over. ) I am thinking that using dry rock and adding Dr. Tim's bacteria was a bad choice and I should have stuck to live rock. This is also the first time I am on a well water supply. I use RO water and just recently added a DI unit to the output. I have also started GFO even though my phosphate measure zero. Nitrates are also around zero ppm. Ammonia is zero and Alk, Ca, Mg are all in range. I use kalwasser for keep the pH at 8.2 and the Alk around 8.5 dkH. My patience is wearing thin as I am tired of siphoning out the diatom infested sand and brushing the diatoms from the rock and aquarium glass. Anything I am missing besides patience?

Oceanwave45 · Oct 31, 2017

Well, it sounds like you are doing everything correct. When I started my tank, I also used dry rock and seeded it with one piece of live rock. I thought I wouldn't go through the diatoms either but five month in to it, my tank exploded with diatoms, it lasted about 6 weeks. From everything I have read, and people on R2R pretty much just told me it needs to run its course. Yes, there are products out there that will help with diatoms, but from what I understand it really doesn't fix the problem, time is essentially the answer. We can see what others have to say.

I do know one what to rid yourself of diatoms, its blacking out the tank, no lights, no natural light for three days. This will rid your tank of diatoms however, if you tank is still new, they will just come back. Sorry, the answer is time here, in my opinion.

Mr. Bill · Oct 31, 2017

Agreed, patience is key. The more you battle the diatoms, the longer they will last. Once they've used up the silicates in your system, they will disappear forever.

It is possible that you were adding silicates from your well water without the DI filter...

Randy Holmes-Farley · Oct 31, 2017

I'd caution that if it is dinos rather than diatoms, the problem is much greater and harder to fix.

Is it a snotty, brown mass, or a thin encrusting hard, coating? The former is more likely to be dinos, the latter, diatoms.

Bob Lauson · Oct 31, 2017

I take the rocks out of the aquarium and use a nylon brush to scrub them and rinse them in RO/DI water or clean saltwater. The rocks feel slimy. So does that mean I have dinos?

Mr. Bill · Oct 31, 2017

Diatoms.

Dinoflagellates.

Bob Lauson · Oct 31, 2017

What I have are not the least bit stringy. It is simply a brown coating on the rocks, glass and sand. It can be easily brushed off mild scrubbing with a nylon brush.

Mr. Bill · Oct 31, 2017

Bob Lauson said:
What I have are not the least bit stringy. It is simply a brown coating on the rocks, glass and sand. It can be easily brushed off mild scrubbing with a nylon brush.

Sounds like it's probably just diatoms.

Might still be helpful if you could post a pic.

LV3 · Oct 31, 2017

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Mr. Bill said:
It is possible that you were adding silicates from your well water without the DI filter...

I agree with this. I was measuring silicates in my display and found nothing but then measured them in my RODI top off container and saw that they were there. Diatoms consuming them in the display is my thought.

Getting another DI canister should fix this. Maybe you’re experiencing the same?

Bob Lauson · Oct 31, 2017

Here's some pics of what I have.

Tigweldpro · Nov 12, 2017

My tank is about 4 weeks into cycle. no more ammonia and just starting to see nitrate.
I knew from my last tank setup that the diatoms would come hard and fast using dead rock. This time around I just have a weak light on the display and the refuge is lit up bright with 2 48" t8 bulbs. I am getting tons of diatoms on the refuge rock and none in the display. Not sure what will happen next but hoping they will stay in the refuge.

Maybe people that are having problems with diatoms in there display need to crank up the refuge lights....? just a thought

rob safron · Nov 30, 2017

Tigweldpro said:
My tank is about 4 weeks into cycle. no more ammonia and just starting to see nitrate.
I knew from my last tank setup that the diatoms would come hard and fast using dead rock. This time around I just have a weak light on the display and the refuge is lit up bright with 2 48" t8 bulbs. I am getting tons of diatoms on the refuge rock and none in the display. Not sure what will happen next but hoping they will stay in the refuge.

Maybe people that are having problems with diatoms in there display need to crank up the refuge lights....? just a thought

rob safron · Nov 30, 2017

My tank is 10 years old, use Vinegar dosing and phosphates have been 0-0.02 via Hanna ULR and Nitrates between 1-2.5. All the sudden I have a diatom problem. No changes have been made. I test at least every 2-3 Days and my RODI remains at 0. Guess I will try a blackout however I battle lower pH and without lights could be a struggle. I guess no matter how careful you are you can still get th dreaded diatoms.

thatmanMIKEson · Dec 21, 2021

rob safron said:
My tank is 10 years old, use Vinegar dosing and phosphates have been 0-0.02 via Hanna ULR and Nitrates between 1-2.5. All the sudden I have a diatom problem. No changes have been made. I test at least every 2-3 Days and my RODI remains at 0. Guess I will try a blackout however I battle lower pH and without lights could be a struggle. I guess no matter how careful you are you can still get th dreaded diatoms.

How is the tank now @ 14yrs did the diatomaceous battle end ?