First diatoms, now what?

[katsreef]

I am a few days into getting my first diatoms in my tank (on sand and rocks mostly, with a little on the glass occasionally).

In my tank I have:
-a blood shrimp, 2 nassarius snails, 1 turbo snail, and two hermits
-a few zoas, two hammers, a few blue mushrooms (That are new so don't mind them not being fully opened in the pic)

I've been feeding my clean up crew a pinch of fish food every day as I don't have any fish for them to clean up after. Do I stop feeding them now that I have diatoms? Will the blood shrimp starve if I do that? I have a decent amount of diatoms and I want them to start working lol.

 

[vetteguy53081]

It happens. As it will diminish, if unsightly, you can siphon, keep light intensity down and add snails to reduce ugliness such as :
Cerith
Nerite
Astrea
Nassarius
Trochus

 

[katsreef]

It happens. As it will diminish, if unsightly, you can siphon, keep light intensity down and add snails to reduce ugliness such as :
Cerith
Nerite
Astrea
Nassarius
Trochus

Wouldn't turning the light intensity down hurt my corals? And should I still be feeding my clean up crew or should I stop so they are more inclined to eat the diatoms?

 

[vetteguy53081]

Wouldn't turning the light intensity down hurt my corals? And should I still be feeding my clean up crew or should I stop so they are more inclined to eat the diatoms?

No but no need to. Reducing silica and cleaner crew will be best attack. Diatoms typically appear in a 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 and while they look ugly, in most cases are harmless so no need to not panic when they appear as they will diminish when their food source does.