Diatoms :(

[Nick862]

Hi. I had my reef set up for almost 10 month with no problems considering I moved home 2 months ago, if any thing my parameters are more stable after I removed all the rock and cleaned my sand when I moved, more to the point I'm still having problems with diatoms, pictures below,

Lights are on 8-9 hours, 2x Whites 24w t5 and 2x hybrids 60% blue, 40% white 24w t5

Parameters:
ph- 8.2
Po4- 0
No2- 0
No3- below 1
Nh3- 0
Ca- 420
Mg- 1320
SG- 1.025
Temp- 27 - 28°c I do have trouble keeping the temp down but never goes over 28.5.
Kh- 120- low but have started buffering slowly

Iv heard and read that silica is the main cause of diatoms but my tank has been running long enough now that I would of thought the diatoms would of burnt it's self out, I also thought it could of been the salt mix I was using but now I change the brand of salt mix every few months and still have this problem, I don't over feed and keep tank very clean as I have a basic setup,

175 l bow corner tank
V2 p/s
Fluval 205 canister filter
2x power heads 24kg l/r
2" sand bed

Hope that's enough info, I'm really stuck on this, iv also done hours of reading on this problem but the answers are always the same ( I have silica in my tank ) but how???? I do 20% p/w every 2 weeks

Any know what I'm doing wrong?

 

[paulweck]

Are u using ro/di water in the tank. I didn't notice u mention that sorry if I missed it

 

[Nick862]

I use just ro thats all I can get locally, it's about 10ppm when I test it, could that be the issue?

 

[rdnelson99]

From what I have learned, the Diatom lives on silicates. That is why most new tanks see an outbreak. Once the silicate is consumed it dies off. I would suspect that somehow a quantity of silicate was introduced to the system if this is a new outbreak after 10 months.

If you can, get you a RO/DI unit of your own. They run about $60.00 from PureWaterClub.com I purchased the one rated at 150 gal a day for $70. You can save $10 if you go with the 100 gal a day unit.

PureWaterClub.com

 

[Nick862]

The ro water must be the cause of my problems, I'll start with changing my water I'm using and see how I get on, I'll reply ageing in a few weeks, cheers for your help