Diatoms????

[crister13]

My tanks over a year old and I have what looks to be like diatoms......... The black stuff is chemipure the bag ripped and it got sucked in the tank. Yay. Is it?

 

[AquaRick]

Looks a bit reddish to me. But if it's brown and not slimy, then yup it's Diatoms. I get them in my tank from time to time if I stir up the sand and expose sand that still has silicates that were never consumed during the first diatom bloom.

Any major sand movement lately?

 

[crister13]

I changed my substrate completely about 2-3 months ago. My nitrates are ridiculous but if I move water close to then they dissipate off the sand. What do you think? I'm bringing down the nitrates with vodka dosing so hopefully they'll be in check soon.