diatom outbreak

[troyman]

had a bad diatom outbreak tried everything to be rid of it . I used seachem phosoguard in one day you could see the diatoms was not as active after 3 days its dying away the stuff is a miricle

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Are you using tap water? Cutting off the source of silicate is usually the best way, but one can also try to reduce phosphate with various materials, such as Phosguard.

For most users, I think GFO is a better bet than is Phosguard due to the potential for released aluminum from Phosguard:

Aluminum and the Reef Aquarium
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/july2003/chem.htm

Iron Oxide Hydroxide (GFO) Phosphate Binders
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-11/rhf/index.htm

[troyman]

i use ro water also i use rowa carbon phosoban and purigen and pure complete nothing took away the diatoms phosphates tested none but outbreak occured dont know if ro water is pushing silica through but i put phosoguard in and its dying off

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

If the TDS on the RO/DI rose as the DI got depleted, silicate can be among the first things released, and perhaps you got a burst of silicate for that reason.

So you might check the RO/DI effluent.

[troyman]

its a new ro filter which dont mean anything i suppose

[HighlandReefer]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diatom

From this article:

"The use of silicon by diatoms is believed by many researchers to be the key to their ecological success. In a now classic study, Egge & Aksnes (1992)[15] found that diatom dominance of mesocosm communities was directly related to the availability of silicic acid — when concentrations were greater than 2 mmol m-3, they found that diatoms typically represented more than 70% of the phytoplankton community. Raven (1983)[16] noted that, relative to organic cell walls, silica frustules require less energy to synthesize (approximately 8% of a comparable organic wall), potentially a significant saving on the overall cell energy budget. Other researchers[17] have suggested that the biogenic silica in diatom cell walls acts as an effective pH buffering agent, facilitating the conversion of bicarbonate to dissolved CO2 (which is more readily assimilated). Notwithstanding the possible advantages conferred by silicon, diatoms typically have higher growth rates than other algae of a corresponding size.[11]"

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

its a new ro filter

Is it RO or RO/Di?

RO alone can let through substantial silicate.

[troyman]

di what is proper salinity should be is not 1026 high

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Normal average seawater at 35 ppt has a sg of 1.0264, so no, that is not too high. :)

This article has data on ocean salinity (but ignore Table III, the temperature/hydrometer stuff which is wrong):

http://web.archive.org/web/20001119191900/http://www.animalnetwork.com/fish2/aqfm/1997/nov/features/1/default.asp