This quite funny, just yesterday I didn't have diatoms yet and today after getting home from the foot doctor it's all over the tank (Only left the house for 1 Hour), almost like somebody turned on a light switch or something. What is the best approach to handling them?
What's the best way to handle diatoms?
- Thread starter InfernoST
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r312h
Aquarium Advice Apprentice
I thought I read somewhere on here that they will eventually burn themselves out. Just give it some time, as soon as quickly as they arrive, they will just as quickly dissipate.
thominil
Aquarium Advice Addict
Just as r312h said, they will burn themselves out.
thominil
Aquarium Advice Addict
I would just leave it alone. If it really bothers you that much you can try, but they will most likely reappear in that spot again.
thominil
Aquarium Advice Addict
No problem. Unsightly signs of progress they are......
Sharkbait430
Aquarium Advice FINatic
Keith the exact same thing happened to me. One minute I had a perfectly nice clean looking tank and the next I look and it was taken over by Diatoms. The substrate, LR, glass, and even my magfloat! They stuck around for a week or so but after that disappeared and burned themselves out like everyone told me. What I would do though on a daily basis was the obvious of cleaning the glass, nothing you could do with the LR, and I would take my pump and slightly vacuum the substrate a little bit - not too much but what I did took care of the problem temporarily. They finally went away after a week or so and then the coraline started coming in and took over the ugly brown the Diatoms had left on the LR and turned all my LR into awesome looking greens and reds and purples!
I'll leave mother nature to her thing and just clean the glass so we can see the bosses specimens.
Yes I am at the moment, I'm going to order a RO/DI unit in about 2 weeks. The readings of the tank are as follows: Nitrates = 5mg/l, Phosphates = .25mg/l, Ammonia = 0, Nitrite = 0, Silicate = 2mg/l, DK = 9, PH = 8.2, Specific Gravity 1.024.
mdaniel2882
Aquarium Advice FINatic
the phosphates and the silicate are why all the diatom. it will burn out when all theses are gone but if you continue to add tap water you will never get rid of the 2 problems. It will go away after you get your RO/DI
ccCapt
SW 20 & Over Club
Your phosphate is quite high, since the recommended level is .03.
Same with the silicates. You will have diatoms at the 2 ppm level your at now. It should be as close to 0 as possible.
As long as your using tap water, you will see diatoms and they will last a few weeks or more after you start using a RO/DI filter.
Reef Aquarium Water Parameters
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Sharkbait430
Aquarium Advice FINatic
I guess mine burned themselves out because I dont use tap water =)
Thanks Larry, Right now I'm running it FOWLR and am not venturing into any reef stuff for a while. I'm going to order a 5 stage today from bulk reef supply, should I get the one with the flush, pressure meter and TDS meter or just the 5 stage unit without the extras?
What do you use?
Sharkbait430
Aquarium Advice FINatic
Read your PM and you will know what I use!
Completely random but check this site out, its amazing:
Oregonreef.com
The random site is great the one on the worm is a little scary I would run and hide if I found a worm that was 7 foot long.Read your PM and you will know what I use!
Completely random but check this site out, its amazing:
Oregonreef.com
Sharkbait430
Aquarium Advice FINatic
Yeah, that worm would make me pee my pants...
