THIS IS DRIVING ME CRAZY!!!

[Dj City]

BRS suggested I try Dr. Tim's Re-Fresh and Waste Away.

I saw a loooooong thread on Vibrant. It sounds promising but I saw a lot of people using it for weeks on end with no real results. Having said that... I'm willing to try it if the Dr. Tim's stuff fails.

 

[Dj City]

Sure it's diatoms and not Dinos? Do they trap air bubbles?

How's your circulation in the tank?

How thick is your sand bed?

Are your Nitrate and/or Phosphate levels always near 0? You don't want either bottomed out long term, particularly if it turns out to be dinos.

Blackouts can temporarily help, but will come back if the source of the issue isn't dealt with.

I am NOT sure but I think it's diatoms. I sent pic to BRS and they think the same thing.
This stuff pretty much disappears at night and comes back during the day. If it's touched, it disappears but it comes back.

Silicates....

Silicon 189.5 µg/l 90.44 µg/l +99.06 µg/l

This stuff does not trap air bubbles.
Flow is GREAT.
I have a maxspect Gyre FX250 on one side of the tank and the Jeabo Crossflow on the other along with 2 Jeabo wavemaker pumps on the back wall along with a Vortech MP10 on the back wall in the center of the tank.

I do not have a deep sandbed. It may be 2 inches in some spots, one inch in other spots.

 

[Dj City]

Symbol.......................Value..........Calculated reference value........Difference
Base elements
Salinity (NaCl) ...........31.65 PSU.........35.00 PSU.............................-3.35 PSU

Carbonate hardness....5.15 °dKH.........7.50 °dKH............................-2.35 °dKH

(FIXED)
Major elements
Chloride....................18187 mg/l.........17907 mg/l.........................+279.6 mg/l

Sodium.......................9793 mg/l......... 9948 mg/l...........................-155.4 mg/l

Magnesium................1298 mg/l............1189 mg/l.........................+109.0 mg/l

Sulfur........................964.5 mg/l..........832.0 mg/l.........................+132.5 mg/l

Calcium.....................509.6 mg/l.........380.7 mg/l.........................+128.8 mg/l

(FIXED)
Potassium..................343.9 mg/l.........369.0 mg/l.........................-25.08 mg/l

Bromine....................92.84 mg/l..........60.59 mg/l........................+32.25 mg/l

Strontium....................5.38 mg/l............7.24 mg/l...........................-1.85 mg/l

Boron...........................2.77 mg/l............3.98 mg/l............................-1.21 mg/l

Fluorid........................0.52 mg/l.............1.18 mg/l...........................-0.66 mg/l

Minor elements
Lithium ............431.0 µg/l................ 153.7 µg/l................................. +277.2 µg/l

Silicon ..............189.5 µg/l ...............90.44 µg/l ................................+99.06 µg/l

Iodine ...............12.36 µg/l ...............58.79 µg/l .................................-46.43 µg/l

Barium .............10.76 µg/l .................9.04 µg/l ...................................+1.72 µg/l

Molybdenum .....2.98 µg/l ...............10.85 µg/l ....................................-7.87 µg/l

Nickel ................0.40 µg/l .................0.45 µg/l ...................................-0.05 µg/l

Manganese ............u. .........................0.45 µg/l ...................................-0.45 µg/l

Arsenic ..................u. ..........................1.36 µg/l ...................................-1.36 µg/l

Beryllium ..............u. .........................0.09 µg/l ..................................-0.09 µg/l

Chrome .................u. .........................0.45 µg/l ...................................-0.45 µg/l

Cobalt ...................u. .........................0.09 µg/l ...................................-0.09 µg/l

Iron ......................u. ..........................0.45 µg/l ...................................-0.45 µg/l

Copper ..................u. .........................0.45 µg/l ...................................-0.45 µg/l

Selenium ..............u. .........................0.45 µg/l ...................................-0.45 µg/l

Silver ....................u. .........................0.09 µg/l ...................................-0.09 µg/l

Vanadium .............u. .........................1.36 µg/l .....................................-1.36 µg/l

Zinc .....................0.31 µg/l ................1.81 µg/l ....................................-1.50 µg/l

Tin ......................3.26 µg/l ................0.45 µg/l ...................................+2.81 µg/l

Nutrients
Nitrate ....................8.98 mg/l.............. 2.00 mg/l .............................+6.98 mg/l

Phosphorus .............2.69 µg/l .................7.24 µg/l ...............................-4.54 µg/l

Phosphate ..............0.01 mg/l ...............0.02 mg/l ..............................-0.01 mg/l

Last edited: 6 minutes ago

 

[Dj City]

Pollutants
Aluminium .............2.05 µg/l ................0.09 µg/l ................................+1.96 µg/l

Antimony ...................u. ........................0.09 µg/l ................................-0.09 µg/l

Bismuth ......................u......................... 0.09 µg/l ................................-0.09 µg/l

Lead ............................u. ........................0.09 µg/l ................................-0.09 µg/l

Cadmium ....................u. ........................0.18 µg/l .................................-0.18 µg/l

Lanthanum .................u. .............................0 µg/l ....................................+0 µg/l

Thallium .....................u. ........................0.09 µg/l ................................-0.09 µg/l

Titanium .....................u. .......................0.09 µg/l .................................-0.09 µg/l

Tungsten .....................u. ............................0 µg/l .....................................+0 µg/l

Mercury ......................u. .............................0 µg/l .....................................+0 µg/l

 

[Dj City]

Is there anything in here I should be worried about?
DKH and Salinity have been fixed.

 

[Dj City]

Anything in there that could be contributing to my problem?

I know everything the ICP test says might be low or high is not necessarily a problem but I REALLY want to rid myself of what I have going on.

 

[Dj City]

I am open to suggestions.

 

[Rick Krejci]

Looks like you're doing everything you should, although if you're running a macro in the fuge I'd probably try to wean off the GFO. I run Chaeto and a good skimmer (no GFO or carbon dosing) and feed a lot and actually dose both Nitrates and Phosphate in my ATO water so they are fed continuously to the tank to keep the levels off the floor. If I didn't, the fuge just sucks them up.

I've heard doing a thorough remove and wash of the gravel is supposed to help keep the cruds off.

I have a few fighting Conchs to keep the gravel turned as well.

 

[PanchoG]

i would try to put the lion in a different tank for a month or two. get a couple goby's and run the UV 24/7 oh just so you know flow on your UV matters a ton, you need to match flow with the makers numbers on their website. I would bet money your problems would go away. how many times a hour in your tank turning over?

+1

 

[Dj City]

I will take the GFO offline. My phosphates are too low according to my ICP test.
I run a good skimmer (SCA 302) but I think I will take it offline for a short while. My water may be TOO clean. I know I need to take it offline while i'm doing the Dr. Tims Re-Fresh and Waste-A-Way.

I will also add to my CUC. Can't hurt right?

If the Dr. Tim's does not work, I will try Vibrant but i'm uneasy trying these things. Problem is im more uneasy with this 5year diatom problem.

Any advice or guidance?

 

[Servillius]

I have the same UV Sterilizer (also offline) It's a BEAST but it did nothing for this problem. I have it in case I need to but I don't run it on the regular.

I have a LARGE and I do mean LARGE turbo snail. Other various snails and crabs including nassarius snails that rise from the dead when food is introduced to the tank.

That’s not enough turbos, but it’s also not the problem.

What kind of sand did you use? GFO should be removing silicates. The fact they’re still there suggests there is a source.

What sand?
What rock?

 

[Dom]

I run a Vortex Diatom Filter on a timer 4 hours, once per day, overnight. They're about $135.00. I've never had a problem.

 

[Harry Miller]

I had a similar problem.
My carbon blocks in the RO system were the problem.

 

[Harry Miller]

I had a similar problem.
Replaced carbo blocks in RO cured it.

 

[ZoWhat]

Imo your 5yr old LR is saturated in the pores with NO3 and PO4.

Best thing to do is pull individual LR and dunk and swoosh in a 5gal bucket to release the saturations.

2nd best thing to do is read up on Vodka dosing or Vinegar Sugar dosing

Hth

 

[markstubb]

Had the same issue. All I did was dose microbacter every 3 days at the recommended dose and it made a sizable impact after 2 or 3 doses. It's just bacteria, so it's worth trying. Be sure to turn off the UV and skimmer for 6-8 hours after dosing. I think my problem was I either didn't have enough bacteria or didn't have the right kind. Everything in my tank tested fine as well.

 

[drblakjak55]

I dose 20cc vodka daily 90g tank whenever I see some extra brown stuff on the sand. Three days and it seems to disappear. I have a high nutrient tank with phos around 0.2 and nitrates 20 to 40.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Often eliminated by good water flow. Cereth snails and conch also help clean this issue up

 

[alex.mccann99]

Although I'm typically opposed to CUC that tend to also eat up beneficial microfauna of your sandbed, just get a Sand Sifting starfish and that will all be gone.

 

[Eric Smith]

What type of sand did you use?