Diatom bloom in upgraded setup..

[SSpiro]

Came home today to find my 20g with some diatom on some rocks and a little bit on the sand. Nothing crazy, but want to stop it before it gets that way.

20G AIO tank is an upgrade from a 10G.. been setup for about a week. Details in sig. Rio HOB skimmer and LR as filter (dont have any chaeto yet, trying to get some locally to add to sump compartment)..

Any thoughts?

[Crush Coral]

Check back in about 9 months and all diatoms and syno should be gone if tank is healthy. At least that is my experience. To slow it down add chemi-pure and a phosphate absorber.

[Gary Majchrzak]

*limit silicates (use RO/DI water)
*run PO4 adsorber
*get herbivorous snails

[heyfredyourhat]

I went through about 3 weeks of diatoms, like crazy brown everywhere. And then literally in like 2 days it disappeared. Then i went through cyano for a few weeks, it didnt disappear overnight, but like 2 weeks later it was gone. Now i am have a major algea delay! Its not HA but the normal browny yellow stuff.

Just sit back and watch for bugs and cool little critters until things settle down.

[SSpiro]

Will diatom effect parameters at all? I have inhabitants in.

I ran tests for the normal (pH, Nitrate, Nitrite, Ammonia) and everything was kosher.. I should probably run a PO4 test.

[heyfredyourhat]

My water tested fine during my stages.But i have way more base rock than LR

[SSpiro]

I have about 15lbs of LR, 20lbs of base..

[1fishkeeper]

Dantoms are just part of the cycling process. Every tank goes through it when it starts up. For some it lasts longer than others but it comes on about week 1-2 in a new set up. And lasts for about a week or two. It can come back with major changes like new lights, different water(bad ro/di), and anything else. Just sit back and enjoy the wonders of nature that is one of the best things about having a tank. You can watch what nature does on a grand scale but only right in front of your eyes.