Diatom to Death

[ospouh]

I have been having problems with this diatoms for about 4 months now and i need help now.

Here is the story, i upgraded my 10G to a 20G in the process i added an extra 10lbs of live rock and an extra 20lbs of Caribsea live sand(suppose to have no silicates).

Soon after the switch i started getting Diatoms and i figured it is normal maybe for shaking up all the sand and the move, i have been having this problem for 4 months now.

I changed water sources, i use to use Spring water, went to RO water from the LFS did that for 2 months didnt help so i decided to go back to Spring water cause LFS RO had about 2.5 Ammonia.

I have reduced lighting and that didnt help. The tank is 20 Gallon, 130 Watt power compact 10k 65W and Actinic 65W. Flow is Maxijet 1200, AquaClear 20 and AquaClear elite, a HOB Refuguium of an Aquaclear 110 full of rubbel and chaeto. so i am sur ei have over 25x turnover.
Param are all undetectable, Calcium 400ppm Alk is between 2.5 and 4, mostly 2.5.

The only suspect i have is the salt is polluted with silicate(Oceanic salt) dont have a silica test around here so i guess i have no choise but to purchase online.

Any thoughts????

[Marklu]

I had the same problem for some time. I also pointed to silicates as the problem, but in my case it was actually phosphates. They can build up, but still be undetectable because the algae absorb them at the same rate that they are being released/added, leaving no traceable amount dissolved in the water. The same thing can happen with silicates, so you should purchase some sort of phosphate/silicate remover and should do the trick.

[ospouh]

i have a phosban reactor with about 2 month old media, forgot to mention that

[migston]

Try leaving your lights off for 3 days. I was starting to get a light diatom problem but after I tried a 3 days lights out, I never saw them come back. Also, it's possible that your water has silicates. Are you using RODI? If not, then I'd either get a RODI unit or buy water from a purified source (LFS or supermarket)

[Magnus6208]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12240253#post12240253 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by migston
Try leaving your lights off for 3 days. I was starting to get a light diatom problem but after I tried a 3 days lights out, I never saw them come back. Also, it's possible that your water has silicates. Are you using RODI? If not, then I'd either get a RODI unit or buy water from a purified source (LFS or supermarket)

100% agree...I did this as well and it worked great.

[ospouh]

trying that and will see the results

[NYIntensity]

What do you have in the tank? If you don't have any livestock, just let the bugger sit for a few weeks; they'll die....

[fuschia_red]

You know something, many of you would be surprised but a lawnmower blenny might help.