Diatom Explosion

bishop · 11-03-2006, 08:55 PM

New tank up and running for 2 1/2 wks now and starting to get my diatom bloom. Not freaked out as I know the tanks going through its normal progression but I am amazed out how fast this stuff spreads.... Showed signs of it two days ago and now its spread to about a quarter of the tank and also appearing on what sand I have in there....

Staying the course, sitting on my hands, and waiting patiently to add a clean up crew.....

While reading it seems that some people do water changes at this point and some don't...... Was hoping someone could chime in and give pros and cons for both. Right now I'm leaning towards the school of wating till the end to do a WC.

Geoff · 11-03-2006, 10:26 PM

i like sponges so i like to just let the diatom bloom run its coarse. pretty soon the sponges on the undersides of the LR will start growing and start uptaking the silicates that the diatoms use. eventually very little is left for the diatoms to use and they will go away almost completely. it is impossible to get rid of them totally since they are so efficient at uptaking silicates, but eventually there is so few silicates available that the snails are easily able to keep the diatoms under controll.

as far as water changes go. if you do a water change now, you might as well siphon up all of the diatoms while you are in there. at least that way you are actually accomplishing. i like to let the water sit, so that the bacteria have something to feed on while the cycling is occuring. i do not think it is wise to dilute the food source for the bacteria by doing a water change.

G~

tdwyatt · 11-04-2006, 02:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Geoff

i like sponges so i like to just let the diatom bloom run its coarse. pretty soon the sponges on the undersides of the LR will start growing and start uptaking the silicates that the diatoms use. eventually very little is left for the diatoms to use and they will go away almost completely. it is impossible to get rid of them totally since they are so efficient at uptaking silicates, but eventually there is so few silicates available that the snails are easily able to keep the diatoms under controll.

as far as water changes go. if you do a water change now, you might as well siphon up all of the diatoms while you are in there. at least that way you are actually accomplishing. i like to let the water sit, so that the bacteria have something to feed on while the cycling is occuring. i do not think it is wise to dilute the food source for the bacteria by doing a water change.

G~

Heh! I feel like all I've done today is say "ditto Geoff", I guess I'll have to start getting on line earlier in the day...

BTW, yesss... Ditto what Geoff said.

bishop · 11-06-2006, 05:40 PM

Day 3 of Diatom bloom and now I'm starting to freak out...LOL ... Algea has really taken over the tank. Wasn't expecting this big of an outbreak with BR seeded w/ Cured. Seems like rocks exposed to light and high current are experiencing the fastest growth. However whats got me freaked out is that the algea is not like a powder or dusting and doesn't blow of the rocks w/ powerhead. Diatom???? Dark rusty color, with a strong hint of red......
Currently running my lights about 8 hours a day, as I found a small mushroom colony on the cured LR I purchased... (love freebies) Plus I figured I'd start moving light cycle up to 10 - 12 hours a day...
Sit on my hands??? Freak out??? Clean up crew??? Water Change..??? Suggestions and comments. Was planning on WC at end of cycle as I agree w/ Geoff's and others previous post(s) on the subject.

and I've been using RO water for top off.. About 1 gallon a day.

Geoff · 11-06-2006, 09:26 PM

it may get a bit worse. it can get really bad sometimes. did you use RO water when you made up the initial tank water? if not than you could have all kinds of silicates in there.

nothing bad will happen, your tank uglies could just take a bit longer to go away. mine lasted at least a month when i first setup my tank many years ago.

just think how less stressfull it is to watch all of this going on when you have not put anything in there that you are trying to keep from getting smothered.

G~

jenajet · 11-06-2006, 09:27 PM

I hate that period. It will go away on it's own just be patient. I waited till the ammonia, trite, trate hit zero and in went the snails and crabs they loved the stuff. Trite is okay if it is reading less than 20 but the others I would make sure they are zero.

tdwyatt · 11-15-2006, 04:48 PM

Just curious, RO water, or RO/DI???

If you want to get the algae out of the system, go ahead and siphon out the algae, it will export the mess and the nutrients that cause the growth (AS IT IS LOCKED UP IN THE BIOMASS OF THE ALGAE).

theplatypus · 11-15-2006, 04:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jenajet

I hate that period. It will go away on it's own just be patient. I waited till the ammonia, trite, trate hit zero and in went the snails and crabs they loved the stuff. Trite is okay if it is reading less than 20 but the others I would make sure they are zero.

Just for clarification Nitrite is not ok. It can kill fish and inverts just as fast as ammonia.

bishop · 11-15-2006, 05:03 PM

RO/DI. Glad to say that the diatom period is over. Sand cleared up nicely.... back of tank where I don't scrap has a slight film over it,, but nothing you can't see through. Rocks are back to their normal rock color..... And on a side note... Added two cleaner shrimp, a fire and skunk the other day..... Both doing well... Skunk seems to be a little more shy then the Fire though....(which I thought it would be the other way around after reading other posts.) Ordered my clean up crew from KeysCritters yesterday.... (all snails...) and in the mean time,,,< I've been scouring over old posts ,,, sucking up the knowledge...

avalanche wolf · 11-15-2006, 07:12 PM

RO/DI have helped a lot with me as well. Thinking I am bout 2 weeks or o behind you but everything is clearing up nicley. I have also noticed the sponges on the undersides of the LR that Geoff was talking about growning on the rocks.

The 10 snails and 3 Emeralds have been going at it as well.

Geoff · 11-15-2006, 08:33 PM

was it not so much easier to let a tank go through the uglies without anything in there!!

sounds like you are well on your way to a nice system there. it is good to see you are taking things slow.

do not be surprised to see another quick algae bloom after the snail shipment is added. this should only be a week max. it is just the bacteria getting used to the new bioload.

G~

jenajet · 11-17-2006, 07:56 AM

yep I had bad info. Sorry guys and thanks for catching that. Lfs told me not to worry about trite trate and ammonia was all that needed testing. Trite BAD!