Serious Diatom Bloom

[kevsqn]

Hi. My tank is almost 4 weeks now. 6G tank.
All parameters are in the normal range except phospate which is ~0.25.(im using API. i know its not accurate). I havent tested for silicate as i dont have a kit for that.
The tank is like turning into a rusthouse lol. is this normal?
i dont have any fishes yet. just 1 elegance.1 torch(which seems to be growing pretty fast). and a sunflower zoa(only 3 heads seems to be opening atm).
and i also tested phospate in the water i use and its zero.
is this still considered in the normal? im abit paranoid my tank will all turn to brown lol.
the bloom started maybe 1.5 to 2 weeks ago.
ive been doing 40%water changes 2 times a week.

 

[Jason mack]

Yes its normal , you can use a turkybiaster , too lightly blow iT away so iT gets taken up in Your filter , have you got you cuc in yet .. now would be a good time

 

[kevsqn]

Thanks for the reply. Yea, im planning on getting about 5 snails tomorrow. is that enough?

 

[Jason mack]

More than enough for that tank I think ..!
But are you sure it's diatoms and not cyno bacteria?

 

[kevsqn]

More than enough for that tank I think ..!
But are you sure it's diatoms and not cyno bacteria?

im pretty sure its not.because my nitrate reading are 0. and this is definitely colored brown. maybe im wrong but i think its diatom.

 

[Jason mack]

Once the diatoms start too die off you will probably get a green hair algae bloom

 

[kevsqn]

Once the diatoms start too die off you will probably get a green hair algae bloom

Thanks. and is it already safe to add a fish maybe a clown?

 

[40B Knasty]

1 fighting conch will blast through that sand bed for you in a week. Maybe less. Maybe 2 astrea snails for the rocks. You don't want die off so go small, because regardless of how great of a job they do. It will be gone soon enough. New tank syndrome. At the tail end of it myself. Sand buffed clean thanks to the conch.

 

[Jason mack]

Thanks. and is it already safe to add a fish maybe a clown?

If you have zero ammonia , and nitrates are not so high then yes you could add a hardy fish like a clown or chromis imo , you could also move your zoas up on your rocks try and keep them out off the diatoms !

 

[kevsqn]

If you have zero ammonia , and nitrates are not so high then yes you could add a hardy fish like a clown or chromis imo , you could also move your zoas up on your rocks try and keep them out off the diatoms !

Thanks.one last thing. my water changes is 2 times a week.i should still keep doing that right? or once a week is fine?

 

[Jason mack]

Once a week 10-20% is enough I normally do 10 % every week

 

[brandon429]

If you were my neighbor and were up for an hour CPR tank session, your tank would be cleared of all that in an hour by a total skip cycle cleaning

Especially in a nano, they're easy to rip clean you'll never have to wait for any type of slow rebound, total access means totally immune to any invasion if you will it instantly

We would: remove all animals to a holding bucket of clean water

Scrub and rinse the rocks free of all invader using clean SW

The tank fully taken apart and every area scrubbed free of the rust

Lights made less white, more blue if possible

The sand fully blast rinsed with tap water then saltwater

The whole tank put back together skipping the cycle

Then it looks like Donald's post here on the last page

http://reef2reef.com/threads/the-official-sand-rinse-thread-aka-one-against-many.230281/page-6