Dinos or diatoms?

Keko21 · Dec 18, 2022

A question as old as reefing. Dinos or diatoms? Or something else? It seems to only be growing on the sand and on no rocks. It definitely looks like the diatoms I had when I first started just juiced up.

parameters:
Temp: 76
pH: 8.3
Nitrates: 10ppm
Nitrites: 0
Ammonia: 0
Alk: 7
Phos: .02
Calcium: 380

I did have 24 hours where my nitrates hit 0. But my phos was at .03. Everything quickly bounced back after a day of turning off my skimmer.Not sure if that was enough time for dinos to appear.

thanks!

Idech · Dec 18, 2022

It really looks like dinos to me.

Koral King · Dec 18, 2022

Just looks like diatoms, nothing to worry too much about! If you want, you could introduce copepods into your system as they are one of the few organisms that actually eat diatoms instead of just disrupting the sand and burying them!

thatmanMIKEson · Dec 18, 2022

It looks like the lights should have been off for a few months with the rocks curing before corals and adding to a fully lit tank.

I'm going with, its a smorgasbord of algaes.

Keko21 · Dec 18, 2022

Koral King said:
Just looks like diatoms, nothing to worry too much about! If you want, you could introduce copepods into your system as they are one of the few organisms that actually eat diatoms instead of just disrupting the sand and burying them!

Ive got a bazillion pods in the system at the moment. I guess I have to tell them to get to work lol.

thatmanMIKEson said:
It looks like the lights should have been off for a few months with the rocks curing before corals and adding to a fully lit tank.

I'm going with, its a smorgasbord of algaes.

Definitely a smorgasbord of algae in my sump which certainly has had an opportunity to make it to the DT

Keko21 · Dec 18, 2022

Dont know if this helps with ID… definitely slimey…

vetteguy53081 · Dec 18, 2022

These are diatoms.
Diatoms are a brown algae that typically appear in a reef tank that has just completed its cycle but they can also appear in an established reef tank. They can cover sand, rock, pumps, glass, you name it. Diatoms look ugly but in most cases they are harmless so the key is to not panic when they appear.
Diatoms feed mainly off of silicates but also consume dissolved organic compounds, phosphate and nitrates. Unfiltered tap water can contain silicates and is a good way to jump start a bloom if you use it to mix salt or to replace water that evaporated from the tank. The best way to prevent this from happening is to filter water through a RODI unit, although you can still get a diatom bloom when using RODI if the cartridge that removes silicates expires.
Diatoms are typically harmless to a captive reef and can be beaten once their food source expires. Once you put the end to the source, the outbreak should last a couple of weeks so just be patient and it will pass.

For major outbreaks you may want to consider the three day blackout. Diatoms are easily wiped from the glass with a mag float, a turkey baster or a toothbrush can access other areas of the tank. Be prepared for them to re-establish themselves quickly, they are likely to be able to resettle and have exponential growth rates.
To prevent their return, practice good aquarium husbandry by doing regular water changes, keep the substrate clean, don’t overfeed the fish, ensure your skimmer is running at an optimal level and rinse out filter socks and sponges on a regular basis.
Some cleaner crew to help control it are : Cerith snails, Nerite snails and Trochus snails and also Astraea snails are effective at removing diatoms.

Keko21 · Dec 18, 2022

vetteguy53081 said:
These are diatoms.
Diatoms are a brown algae that typically appear in a reef tank that has just completed its cycle but they can also appear in an established reef tank. They can cover sand, rock, pumps, glass, you name it. Diatoms look ugly but in most cases they are harmless so the key is to not panic when they appear.
Diatoms feed mainly off of silicates but also consume dissolved organic compounds, phosphate and nitrates. Unfiltered tap water can contain silicates and is a good way to jump start a bloom if you use it to mix salt or to replace water that evaporated from the tank. The best way to prevent this from happening is to filter water through a RODI unit, although you can still get a diatom bloom when using RODI if the cartridge that removes silicates expires.
Diatoms are typically harmless to a captive reef and can be beaten once their food source expires. Once you put the end to the source, the outbreak should last a couple of weeks so just be patient and it will pass.

For major outbreaks you may want to consider the three day blackout. Diatoms are easily wiped from the glass with a mag float, a turkey baster or a toothbrush can access other areas of the tank. Be prepared for them to re-establish themselves quickly, they are likely to be able to resettle and have exponential growth rates.
To prevent their return, practice good aquarium husbandry by doing regular water changes, keep the substrate clean, don’t overfeed the fish, ensure your skimmer is running at an optimal level and rinse out filter socks and sponges on a regular basis.
Some cleaner crew to help control it are : Cerith snails, Nerite snails and Trochus snails and also Astraea snails are effective at removing diatoms.

So this is my second round then, they just look a bit more intense this time. My cuc seems to be favoring the green stuff on the rocks.
How can you visually tell them apart from dinos?

vetteguy53081 · Dec 18, 2022

Keko21 said:
So this is my second round then, they just look a bit more intense this time. My cuc seems to be favoring the green stuff on the rocks.
How can you visually tell them apart from dinos?

Yours is on the sandbed colonized . Typically dino is also on the rocks and surfaces often looking stringy and represents snot sometimes with bubbles. Because dino is photosynthetic, the cells multiply quickly.