Diatoms?

[curiel909]

Hello everyone!

Hope everyone had an awesome weekend! I sure did, I visited Reef-A-palooza and came up with a lot of great products.

I am now on week 2 with my 40 gallon tank. And I started getting brown algae all over the tank. My lights are on a schedule.

I am running a Current USA orbit led light and I’m using their recommended settings.

I did a water change last night and have yet checked my water parameters.

So my questions are, do i have diatoms? Is it normal? What does this mean? Will it go away on its own? What do I need to do to prevent algae.

Thanks soo much!

 

[little_sardines]

Yup those look like diatoms! It's actually a good thing, it means your tank is maturing. Eventually, as your tank gets older and more mature those will go away. I've heard people call this stage 'the uglies'

 

[James77]

So my questions are, do i have diatoms? Is it normal? What does this mean? Will it go away on its own? What do I need to do to prevent algae.

Thanks soo much!

Yeah its totally normal, and only means your tank is running its course. I even get them when I replace old sand with new.

As little_sardines said above, it is all stages of a new tank.

You're not going to prevent algae cycles, all tanks go through them. Algae will always be there. But restricting nutrients and exporting excess nutrients keeps them in check. Having algae in a separate area, like chaeto in sump with lighting, helps you control where it grows. Skimmers, GFO and water chnages greatly help.

But what you are seeing is minor and no big deal at all.

 

[curiel909]

Yup those look like diatoms! It's actually a good thing, it means your tank is maturing. Eventually, as your tank gets older and more mature those will go away. I've heard people call this stage 'the uglies'

Ha! I can definitely see why they call it the "uglies".

Good to know that i do not have a problem.

Just picked up more CUC.

I now have 20 small blue leg hermits
10 trochus snails
6 nassarius snails
2 turbo snails
2 sand sifting star fish
and some pods in my refugium.

Hope the little critters can help with the diatoms.

 

[curiel909]

Yeah its totally normal, and only means your tank is running its course. I even get them when I replace old sand with new.

As little_sardines said above, it is all stages of a new tank.

You're not going to prevent algae cycles, all tanks go through them. Algae will always be there. But restricting nutrients and exporting excess nutrients keeps them in check. Having algae in a separate area, like chaeto in sump with lighting, helps you control where it grows. Skimmers, GFO and water chnages greatly help.

But what you are seeing is minor and no big deal at all.

Thanks for the info!

What other stages am i expecting to see during a new tank?

I do have a refugium with live sand, live rock and chaeto and red light.

 

[James77]

Thanks for the info!

What other stages am i expecting to see during a new tank?

I do have a refugium with live sand, live rock and chaeto and red light.

Likely green hair and some cyano, all normal as long as they are controlled and don't take over tank. If they do, its a sign of nutrient issues and flow issues.

 

[edgewater]

I had this in my previous tank and having some slight diatom blooms in my current setup as well! should be normal