Is this a diatom bloom?

[FreakPrism]

Alright so I'm slightly over 2 weeks into a new reef tank that was cycled with Turbo 900 and some fish. All is going well when I noticed what seems like brown spots on the rocks. It dissolves easily with a turkey baster. I did about a 20% water change yesterday and today it seems the diatoms are spreading and worse. Wanted to confirm if this are indeed diatoms and part of the "Ugly" Phase?

I will check my levels tomorrow.

 

[Conovan]

Looks like it my first was at about 2 weeks after lights on. Water changes actually make mine worse so I am considering getting a better RO system.

 

[abw75]

Yes, diatoms are normal part of new tanks; They will go away as they use available silicates in the water;
Water changes with tap water will just add more silicates to fuel them; But you dont have to do anything other than wait and will clear soon;

 

[FreakPrism]

Thanks. I actually am using a brand new 7 Stage BRS RODI system. I'm guessing all the new dry rock and dry sand have lots of silicate fueling the diatoms. Let's see how it goes.

I put corals (hardy ones LPS/Softies) and an anemone in and so far they are doing well. Going to watch the zooanthids to make sure the diatoms don't cause any issues. It is actually growing polyps so that is cool to watch.

So far its been a pain to tune in my D300 Coral Box Skimmer. Will need to play around with it more ...

 

[abw75]

Thanks. I actually am using a brand new 7 Stage BRS RODI system. I'm guessing all the new dry rock and dry sand have lots of silicate fueling the diatoms. Let's see how it goes.

I put corals (hardy ones LPS/Softies) and an anemone in and so far they are doing well. Going to watch the zooanthids to make sure the diatoms don't cause any issues. It is actually growing polyps so that is cool to watch.

So far its been a pain to tune in my D300 Coral Box Skimmer. Will need to play around with it more ...

I had diatoms in every new tank (started with live rock or dry rock) - is normal; Not a nem expert, but I think they like more mature / stable tanks; Other LPS/zoas should be OK - diatoms are ugly, but normally harmless;
As recently started myself a new tank with dry rocks & sand - be really carefull to avoid the next real ugly stage very often happens with such "dead" rocks - cyano explosion; Add bottled bacteria, pods, etc + keep nutrients away from 0.0

 

[FreakPrism]

I had diatoms in every new tank (started with live rock or dry rock) - is normal; Not a nem expert, but I think they like more mature / stable tanks; Other LPS/zoas should be OK - diatoms are ugly, but normally harmless;
As recently started myself a new tank with dry rocks & sand - be really carefull to avoid the next real ugly stage very often happens with such "dead" rocks - cyano explosion; Add bottled bacteria, pods, etc + keep nutrients away from 0.0

Good idea thanks. I'll probably dose Stability for a few days. I was reading up on copepods. Do they help? I was not planning on keeping fish that eat them ... do they provide any other benefit?

Although I have a refugium section in my sump with Pond Matrix, I have not put a light yet.

So far the nems seem happy. They cocoon up at night and then open up during the day. Let's see. Today 2 clownfish are getting closer to it and staring at it. Hopefully they move in soon

 

[MichaelReefer]

Welcome to the ugly stage. Your first year will be filled with ups and downs of Algae, bacteria blooms and all the other fun problems. lol

 

[FreakPrism]

I was using my phone light at night and it is amazing the things that happen at night. Some of my corals had their polyps open with small tentacles. I also noticed my rock seem to be growing something green in color and diatoms reduced.

 

[abw75]

Good idea thanks. I'll probably dose Stability for a few days. I was reading up on copepods. Do they help? I was not planning on keeping fish that eat them ... do they provide any other benefit?

Although I have a refugium section in my sump with Pond Matrix, I have not put a light yet.

So far the nems seem happy. They cocoon up at night and then open up during the day. Let's see. Today 2 clownfish are getting closer to it and staring at it. Hopefully they move in soon

I dont have fishes depending on pods either, even if some will eat them (dwarf angelfish), but I consider pods as an important part of CUC - they go where no snail can go, they feed on algae, and cause no harm; So adding some from time to time in your tank is good; I add 2x week some phyto, just to help pods (during their larvae state they are free swimmers feeding on phyto); Dosing phyto help with their reproduction; I dont have refugium, but I put some "pod homes" in my sump;
Good luck with clowns & nem

 

[nano reef]

I have 2 tanks so far and had diatoms in the one I have now. I always waited 3 months before I turned lights on and I still got it this time. I should have ran it a little more before I added coral and now run it 10 hours but recently cut back. I am pretty sure yours will go away on their own but I would try to run the light no more than 8 hours. Water changes and vacuuming sand makes mine go away until about mid week then they start to come back. I your on rock to or sand. Mine is on sand and glass. You should try to vacuum it up if you havnt already and change water often and run lights as little as corals will tolerate.

 

[HaveFishWillTravel]

Alright so I'm slightly over 2 weeks into a new reef tank that was cycled with Turbo 900 and some fish. All is going well when I noticed what seems like brown spots on the rocks. It dissolves easily with a turkey baster. I did about a 20% water change yesterday and today it seems the diatoms are spreading and worse. Wanted to confirm if this are indeed diatoms and part of the "Ugly" Phase?

I will check my levels tomorrow.

What I did when I had my first diatom bloom was I went out and got 12 Turbo Snails. It was kind of expensive, about $50 bucks, but they lickity split cleaned it all up. It’s been a few months now and they are keeping things nice. Not a bad option. When I do water changes, I take a clean tooth brush to the rocks and speed things up a little for them. They still seem to have plenty to munch on...

 

[HaveFishWillTravel]

I was using my phone light at night and it is amazing the things that happen at night. Some of my corals had their polyps open with small tentacles. I also noticed my rock seem to be growing something green in color and diatoms reduced.

After the diatom bloom, the green stuff grew. It is hard and doesn’t even scrape off. Not sure what it is. Any ideas??? It is only unsightly during certain light phases, but I would like to know what it is and what it damages it might do, if any. Thx! JL

 

[FreakPrism]

In my research

After the diatom bloom, the green stuff grew. It is hard and doesn’t even scrape off. Not sure what it is. Any ideas??? It is only unsightly during certain light phases, but I would like to know what it is and what it damages it might do, if any. Thx! JL

Might be green coraline algae?

 

[Conovan]

In my research


Might be green coraline algae?

Is it mountain dew green? I have had some of that after the diatom. won't blow off with a turkey baster but the snails are sure loving it.

 

[HaveFishWillTravel]

Is it mountain dew green? I have had some of that after the diatom. won't blow off with a turkey baster but the snails are sure loving it.

Snails won’t/can’t chew this stuff off. It’s like crystalline.

 

[HaveFishWillTravel]

In my research


Might be green coraline algae?

I read about Coraline Algae. Not sure if that is what this is. It is as if the rock and what is growing on it are one. I took this photo with a yellow filter. The algae is sort of a light green and is only on the top of the white rocks. It isn’t growing on the blue rocks and it isn’t on the rocks lower down in the aquarium. Almost like it grows best where the light is the strongest.