Diatoms?

[Tyguy35]

Hey, my tank has been cycling since dec 15. Nitrites hit zero about two days ago nitrates were at 50 but after a water change they have gone down.

once the nitrites hit zero I started to see brown algae or diatoms? Yesterday they took over everything so I turn my lights off and turned the skimmer on. After a second water change to help lower the nitrates I removed a lot of the brown algae that was on the sand. After that it seem that plant like brown algae has sprouted in a few spots. I’ve only seen diatoms as a dusting never plant like. Are they diatoms or something else. Never really went away at night until I disturbed it.

 

[Reef.]

Turn lights off if you have any on over the tank.

 

[Tyguy35]

Turn lights off if you have any on over the tank.

Is it diatoms?

 

[Reef.]

Is it diatoms?

I’m not sure, it doesn’t look like when I had diatoms but still could be.

 

[Bepis]

Looks like my diatoms. Don’t fight it with water changes , it’s part of the tank maturing its not like dinos which won’t go away. The tank just needs time to mature

 

[Tyguy35]

Looks like my diatoms. Don’t fight it with water changes , it’s part of the tank maturing its not like dinos which won’t go away. The tank just needs time to mature

I thought it was diatoms until the little sprouts came up. Never seen that yet before.

 

[Bepis]

Ya don’t know what that is but I think it’s separate

 

[Tyguy35]

Ya don’t know what that is but I think it’s separate

Hopefully someone will know

 

[Bepis]

#reefsquad

 

[saltyhog]

What's on your sand and the "sprout" on your rock are two different things.

What's on your sand looks like diatoms and I would think that was definitely it except it looks like it's on your rocks too(which is uncommon). Diatoms are normal in new tanks like yours. They depend on silicates and when they've used it up they will go away. Turning off your lights won't help get rid of them.

The sprout on your rock....may be a macro algae. Does it react if you touch it?

 

[Tyguy35]

What's on your sand and the "sprout" on your rock are two different things.

What's on your sand looks like diatoms and I would think that was definitely it except it looks like it's on your rocks too(which is uncommon). Diatoms are normal in new tanks like yours. They depend on silicates and when they've used it up they will go away. Turning off your lights won't help get rid of them.

The sprout on your rock....may be a macro algae. Does it react if you touch it?

It does not react. There was only a small amount on the rocks. I don’t know where the macro algae would come from I used these rocks a year ago never had macro algae and I have nothing in the tank.

 

[saltyhog]

Try to get some clearer pictures if you can under white light.

Oh and never let your nitrates or phosphates get to zero! That is a ticket to dinoflagellates!

 

[Tyguy35]

Try to get some clearer pictures if you can under white light.

Oh and never let your nitrates or phosphates get to zero! That is a ticket to dinoflagellates!

I just removed it. I don’t want it whatever it is. Some of the brown on the rock does not blow off easily. Or scrub off easily. I guess I will just have to play the waiting game and see what happens. Trying not to stress. I made a huge mistake by overdosing nopox last time around stressing over gha. So I am trying to just chill.

 

[Bepis]

I just removed it. I don’t want it whatever it is. Some of the brown on the rock does not blow off easily. Or scrub off easily. I guess I will just have to play the waiting game and see what happens. Trying not to stress. I made a huge mistake by overdosing nopox last time around stressing over gha. So I am trying to just chill.

I pretty much ignore my tank while it gets matured. I do water changes and watch params pretty much

 

[Nanojoe]

I have a feeling that “sprout” may have nothing to do with the diatoms.

Regarding the Diatoms. Just ride it out honestly. Continue your normal maintenance routine. My diatom phase has been very minor (knock on wood) thus far... I’ve just kept up with weekly water changes. Dosing bright wells micro bacter 7 and running the skimmer.

 

[CThomas]

The sprouting is not diatoms. All the other brown on your rock and sand is. Don't do anything about the diatoms. They will go away on their own. If you are using Microbacter or Dr. Tims Nitrifying Bacteria or similar product, they will speed up the process. Since you have your diatom bloom, you might want to add just a few snails and hermits now, and see if they attack that sprouting thing. If it's algae, they should take care of it in no time.

What did you use to start your cycle?

 

[Tyguy35]

The sprouting is not diatoms. All the other brown on your rock and sand is. Don't do anything about the diatoms. They will go away on their own. If you are using Microbacter or Dr. Tims Nitrifying Bacteria or similar product, they will speed up the process. Since you have your diatom bloom, you might want to add just a few snails and hermits now, and see if they attack that sprouting thing. If it's algae, they should take care of it in no time.

What did you use to start your cycle?

I used fritz 9 it worked almost right away. I added 2 trochus and 3 astrea hard to find trochus right now. Only 1 hermit for now. I have not added more bacteria since first using it. Should I add more.
I already removed the sprout myself. It’ll likely come back though.

 

[Reefahholic]

That’s diatoms on the sandbed, and that little sprout kinda looks like the start of bryopsis, but it’s a little early for that and If you just started the tank on Dec 15th and the tank has only been up 3 weeks, I’d suspect it’s just some algae. Don’t do anymore water changes. Feed the tank “minimally” if you have fish. Keep the lights OFF if you haven’t added any coral yet and try not to add a lot of fish right now. Let the tank do it’s thing. It’s a new system. Don’t add GFO or Carbon. Try not to Carbon dose. Resist those urges in the beginning. The NO3 shouldn’t be zero though. If it continues to sit at zero you will likely start to see some funky algae develop. Here’s a thought and this is a last resort. I wouldn’t do it unless it’s emergent.. especially if you have never dosed nitrate before, but buy some Brightwell Neo Nitro to keep on hand and “SLIGHTLY” raise the nitrates to “detectable” and then leave them alone. Dosing nitrate can get you into big trouble or they can really help a new system that’s depleted as long as you only dose a minimal amount. I personally wouldn’t have a problem dosing my new system, but I’ve been dosing it a long time. Again.. the KEY is just enough to get a “detectable reading” when the tank is young. Then let it do it’s thing and leave it alone. Expect to see diatoms and some minimal algae pop up, but if you keep the lights off it won’t add any fuel and it will reduce the chances of it depleting your Phosphate which your Nitrifying bacteria need to grow and divide assuming you used some bottled bacteria like DrTim’s to start the cycle. Expect PO4 to go as high as 0.8 to over 1.0, but not much higher than that as long as you feed minimally and keep a light fish load. Keep us updated! Good luck!

 

[Reefahholic]

I used fritz 9 it worked almost right away. I added 2 trochus and 3 astrea hard to find trochus right now. Only 1 hermit for now. I have not added more bacteria since first using it. Should I add more.
I already removed the sprout myself. It’ll likely come back though.

I just now saw you added Fritz which is nitrifying bacteria. Did you test ammonia and Nitrite in the beginning? How long did it tank to cycle?

 

[Tyguy35]

I just now saw you added Fritz which is nitrifying bacteria. Did you test ammonia and Nitrite in the beginning? How long did it tank to cycle?

I do have nitrates they are at 20 now. It is nitrites that zeroed out two days ago. I never got an ammonia reading even though I ghost fed the fritz worked way to fast. The tank cycled dec 15 until yesterday when the diatoms took over. My nitrates went as high as 50 then I did the water change which brought them down. I have yet to test phosphates. I added a carbon pack when nitrites zeroed