NEVER ENDING DIATOM BATTLE!

[KJoFan]

Yes.

I wonder if I could eliminate my single cation stage and add GFO as my final stage after single anion and mixed bed...might be worth a try.

Bare bottom would be a no go for me as well with leopard wrasses.

 

[november290]

Yeah me too!! Love Wrasses too much to go bare bottom myself.

 

[Silent]

Why not try UV?

 

[Flippers4pups]

Why not try UV?

Got a UV.

 

[KJoFan]

One of the reasons I'm trying GFO down stream. I've heard Anion alone can be depleted extremely quickly. Hopefully the GFO will last a great deal of time.

I don't suppose putting GFO downstream would preserve the anion resin. I wonder if it could be preserved a bit more by going upstream of the anion? I'm not sure of the answer, just thinking "out loud".

 

[Flippers4pups]

I don't suppose putting GFO downstream would preserve the anion resin. I wonder if it could be preserved a bit more by going upstream of the anion? I'm not sure of the answer, just thinking "out loud".

No it wouldn't. The Anion would get exposed to the silica and Phosphates that get through the unit first.

 

[KJoFan]

No it wouldn't. The Anion would get exposed to the silica and Phosphates that get through the unit first.

It may work as a solution if your water usage is relatively low. Unknown how long the gfo would last, but at this point I'm thinking it would perhaps just be an added cost to an already expensive problem. Now, I'm not only going through anion resin quickly, but also gfo.

I think I just need a new water source.

 

[Fourstars]

I would stop water changes, use a diatomaceous earth filter turning it on after lights out. Also try to get as much as you can in the water column before lights out, I use a baster. And don’t bottom out the phosphate and nitrate.

 

[hankacrank]

I had this problem in my pico and nano with dinos that came after I added additional sand from a new caribsea live sandbag. It receded with lights decreased but then came back.

I experimented taking my sand down to just a thin layer in one tank and it worked. I'm about to do it on the other tank as well.

 

[Jenuvio]

After two years, I decided to ramp up my bio reactor again and got a diatom bloom.
I do a 10% water change weekly and can't figure out how to remove it.

Not sure if the bio pellets created this, and at the same time I have a chemi elite (gfo) bag that has reached it's 3 month mark. This conversation has me thinking maybe I have been keeping them away with the GFO.

I will change the bag soon and keep you updated.

Have been using RO water (no DI) the past 2 years without diatom bloom. I wouldn't try to get mad scientist on the cation and anion if you are seeing 0 TDS with a mix resin.

 

[hankacrank]

1. Push your nitrates to at least 5, phosphates to at least 0.04
2. Cut your lights to 50 or 60% of what they were
3. Increase your temperature to 82 degrees
4. Sit back and relax

 

[Luckyduck]

Triton testing issue aside, this is from one of my articles:

Silica In Reef Aquariums

Why would I recommend dosing silica? Largely because creatures in our tanks use it, the concentrations in our tanks (at least in mine) are below natural levels, and the sponges, mollusks, and diatoms may not be getting enough to thrive.

reefs.com

With one exception (discussed below) all diatoms require silica for growth, and low silica levels cause significant changes in the cell cycle.7 Silicon is a major limiting nutrient for diatom growth in certain parts of the oceans,8 although iron,9 nitrogen, and phosphorus can also be limiting. There have been many studies on the uptake of silica by diatoms. Most diatoms take up silica in the form of silicic acid, although one has been shown to take up the silicate form.10 If absorbing silica is a limiting factor, then it makes sense to transport silicic acid since it is present at much higher concentrations than is silicate, and hence is potentially easier to transport.

Different diatom species have different abilities to absorb silica from the water. That is, as the silica concentration drops, some diatoms can continue to pull silica from the water while others cannot. Most diatoms have half maximal rates of silica absorption of 0.7-10 uM 0.04 – 0.6 ppm SiO2), but some are substantially higher, up to about 60 uM (2.6 ppm SiO2). The in-situ average for biogenic silica uptake in the surface layer of the equatorial pacific showed half maximal uptake at a silica concentration of 1.6 uM at 3°S and 2.4 uM at the equator, which was close to the silica concentrations present.

There apparently are genes for many different silica transporters in each of the diatom species that has been investigated.8 Diatoms also somehow maintain internal silicic acid concentrations at levels higher than its solubility, but the mechanism for accomplishing this is unclear. Nevertheless, it is obvious that this facilitates the deposition process, and inhibits dissolution of the existing frustule. Diatoms apparently use proteins to guide the deposition process, where soluble silica is converted into the intricate solid frustule, but exactly how this role is accomplished is not known.8

In a reef tank like mine with silica concentrations below 0.8 uM (0.05 ppm SiO2, the practical limit of the Hach silica kit), some diatoms will have a hard time absorbing silica. Many reef tanks may, in fact, be selecting for diatoms that are able to get enough silica at the low concentrations typically available. Are diatoms silica-limited in reef tanks? That question is addressed experimentally below.

In the oceans, diatoms are silica limited in some natural settings (like the polar regions and the Sargasso Sea, where the ambient silica concentration is less than 1 uM (0.06 ppm SiO2).11 There have also been many cases where eutrophication of natural waters has raised nitrogen and phosphorus levels to the point where silica has become limiting,12 even when it was not limiting in pristine waters. In reef tanks, where nitrogen and phosphorus are often not in short supply, it makes sense that silica could be limiting. In case you were thinking that silica limitation to diatom growth is necessarily a good thing, there are drawbacks. The limitation of silica, inhibiting the growth of diatoms that would otherwise take up the limiting nutrients nitrogen and phosphorus, has even been implicated in blooms of cyanobacteria.1

Randy once again with a great explanation. That's a great answer! Love the details. I don't know if all of it registered in my basic mind lol but was very informative. I am just starting to get diatoms. Day 16, so it's a new tank. Hopefully they don't get too bad but I plan to just let them run their course. Is there anything I can do to help neutralize conditions for them to grow? I have a 15 Gallon, dry rock, live sand bed and hang on back fuge w/ Brightwell Export bio cubes, Brightwell coral Substrat and Chaeto. I seeded the tank at the start with Brightwell Start XLM and Quikcycl to get the bacteria a jump start. I used all pre-mixed saltwater and RODI for top offs. Nitrates are still very high @ around 50 ppm, Nitrites as well @ about 4.5ppm and Ammonia 0. Phosphates I believe are around .07 (checked two days ago) will check again tonight. I have Brightwell Ferrion (Iron supplement) to help the Chaeto to grow but maybe I should wait on adding that as it will benefit the diatoms as well? I do have a trace test kit so I can test for Iron, Potassium and Iodine so I can keep an eye on the iron levels (I know they're tough to test though). Theres a 5w grow light over the fuge that runs for 7 hours at night opposite the main tank. I run an AI Prime 16HD over the tank that uses about 30 watts at its current setting (Ecotech Marine AB+ spectrum). Whites are on at 30% throughout the course of the 12 hr light cycle minus 2 hours for ramp up and and ramp down. UV is set around 115%, blues and purples are about 80% and red and green are >5% each. Anything I can do to reduce the diatom bloom would be great but I understand it's a part of a new reef cycle. Any pointers?