Dino or Diatom? Help

[kevsqn]

Hi. so these brown stuff have been in my tank for 2-3 weeks. my parameters are good. except for phospate 0.25 a week ago. havent checked now.
tank is 8g. about 1 month old.
1 elegance(no brown stuff here, theyve been doing excellent. the best ive seen them since i got them).
1 torch (doing fantastic as well, the polyps are extended all the way out)
the zoa tho. already 3 heads closed up.and there are brown stuff growing on them. though i have 3 other heads that are doing fine.
added 5 snails 2 days ago and so far theyve been eating these brown stuff. no fishes yet.
now im at conflict whether these are dino or diatom. i also have small bubbles on top of the rocks.

if this is dino im gonna be treating with hydrogen peroxide and doing the 3 days no light.

what do you guys think.

 

[domination2580]

Can you get a close up of the sand bed? It very well could be dinos but need a close up. With all the bubbles I'm leaning towards dinos. Depending on strain of dinos hydrogen won't work nor the blackout....but it all depends

 

[kevsqn]

Can you get a close up of the sand bed? It very well could be dinos but need a close up. With all the bubbles I'm leaning towards dinos. Depending on strain of dinos hydrogen won't work nor the blackout....but it all depends

here ya go. some parts are blurred cos of the brown stuff

 

[kevsqn]

i dont really see any bubbles on the sand bed

 

[reeferfoxx]

Dinos are rare. This is 100% diatoms. Very common with a new tank. Ditch the api po4 test kit. Hanna makes the easiest and fast test with the Hanna ULR phosphate checker(the ppb) one. It will give you a better idea of whats going on. You have adequate clean up crew for that size tank. Keep up with weekly 15% water changes. If it doesn't clear up in the next 3 week and starts turning into a jelly like mulm, run a small bag of GFO for only 24 hours. The gfo will absorb roughly 20ppm of silicates and help speed up the process. Also, dont keep the gfo in. There is some biology the tank needs to build its environment. Diatoms are an essential cycle for micro fauna to feed on. I wouldnt add anymore coral till after this clears.

 

[kevsqn]

Dinos are rare. This is 100% diatoms. Very common with a new tank. Ditch the api po4 test kit. Hanna makes the easiest and fast test with the Hanna ULR phosphate checker(the ppb) one. It will give you a better idea of whats going on. You have adequate clean up crew for that size tank. Keep up with weekly 15% water changes. If it doesn't clear up in the next 3 week and starts turning into a jelly like mulm, run a small bag of GFO for only 24 hours. The gfo will absorb roughly 20ppm of silicates and help speed up the process. Also, dont keep the gfo in. There is some biology the tank needs to build its environment. Diatoms are an essential cycle for micro fauna to feed on. I wouldnt add anymore coral till after this clears.

Thanks for the reply! This is such a relief! ill be doing what you said. and about the lighting. 6-8 is plenty enough right?

 

[reeferfoxx]

Hours? Yeah. Start with 7 hours and slowly work up to 8. Other than thr diatoms, everything else looks fine.

 

[kevsqn]

Hours? Yeah. Start with 7 hours and slowly work up to 8. Other than thr diatoms, everything else looks fine.

thanks! last question. im running this type of overhead filter with the sponge then the cermic rings under it. and im wondering where else can i put the bag of gfo. can i take out like half of the rings and replace it with gfo? or what other ways can i do it?

 

[reeferfoxx]

You most likely wont need the gfo. But you can remove the rings if need be.

 

[Hbreef]

I would also recommend cleaning out that floss...you want to reduce the amount of nutrients being cycled back into display tank. Having a small tank like that can quickly go wrong if your not doing the necessary water changes. I would avoid adding any additional coral and fish for that matter, until your biological filtration establishes itself.

 

[Hbreef]

 

[Hbreef]

Here's my nano 10gal.

 

[kevsqn]

I would also recommend cleaning out that floss...you want to reduce the amount of nutrients being cycled back into display tank. Having a small tank like that can quickly go wrong if your not doing the necessary water changes. I would avoid adding any additional coral and fish for that matter, until your biological filtration establishes itself.

Thanks for the advice man. and sick tank! hope my tank will look like that soon xD

 

[reeferfoxx]

Thanks for the advice man. and sick tank! hope my tank will look like that soon xD

Do you have a fish?

 

[kevsqn]

Do you have a fish?

Not yet. i got a picasso clown but it might take a week or two for it to arrive

 

[reeferfoxx]

Not yet. i got a picasso clown but it might take a week or two for it to arrive

I hope it hasn't shipped already? Should overnight her.

 

[kevsqn]

I hope it hasn't shipped already? Should overnight her.

I dont think so haha. my LFS said there were some problems with the transport. and what do you mean by overnight her?

 

[reeferfoxx]

I dont think so haha. my LFS said there were some problems with the transport. and what do you mean by overnight her?

Ooh LFS is getting her. Sorry I thought you ordered one. Like online..

 

[kevsqn]

Ooh LFS is getting her. Sorry I thought you ordered one. Like online..

yup. its best if i leave her with the LFS until this diatom ends right?

 

[reeferfoxx]

yup. its best if i leave her with the LFS until this diatom ends right?

You can add the fish. In fact you could have added the fish a month ago, depending on how you cyclec the tank. But diatoms wont grow until the bb cycle ends. So you've been good to go for a fish.