Is this diatoms?

[Emarley]

Hello fellow reefers,

Started getting this growing on my sandbed, was advised by lfs that it is diatoms caused by silicates leaching out of sand and to use seachem seagel to clear it up. Been running seagel for a week now but it’s getting worse!

Any help greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance

Dom

 

[Katrina71]

Looks like it

 

[Bret Brinkmann]

You don't need to use anything to clear it up. This happens to all new tanks as they mature. Sometimes it takes longer to clear up but it will go away on its own. Once the diatoms use up all the Si they will die. As long as you don't add more Si then they will stay gone. You can use RODI water to top off the tank to help prevent that.

If you can't wait for them to go away on their own, then I recommend getting some cerith snails. They are great for keeping the sand bed clean. They eat diatoms, cyanobacteria, film, and hair algae.