Diatoms in coral/invert quarantine tank

BigDaddyD1992 · 03/18/2018, 08:54 PM

Hello, I've had dino's in 2 of my past systems and I've gotten rid of everything and started over with new tanks and equipment. I set up this coral/invert quarantine in effort to not have to deal with dino's anymore. I cycled the tank and then threw in some corals, I'm on about day 30 of them being in the tank. Now it appears that I'm getting diatoms, some on the glass and some on the frag plugs. I'm pretty sure it not dino but not 100% sure. In a bare bottom system like this would dino's accumulate in a dead spot? This seems like something diatoms would do because in my experience dino's are slimy and develop in "mats" and wouldn't blow around like this. It is also easily siphoned out. Also I'm not seeing any stringing with bubbles which I seen happen pretty quick with dino's. I might just be freaking out a bit, but does the timing seem right for the to possibly just be diatoms? I diped new corals and put them on brand new plugs before I added them to the quarantine system.
Thanks

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Anotherplanet · 03/18/2018, 09:07 PM

Just want to make sure you are distinguishing between cyno and diatoms. If you can post a photo with only whites on, that would help. Diatoms feed off of silicate. They also produce their own silicate, making ridding them nearly impossible. I lost a lot of coral from a diatom outbreak from a result of adding too much dry rock to my established tank.

The only solution that worked for me was using Seachem PhosGuard because it removes silicate. Not here is the catch. If you have canisters, run it through that. But you need something like a filter sock to catch the water after it passes through the Phosguard. Why? Well it causes the silicate to precipitate and if it don’t catch that precipitation, then a large portion will go back into your water. You don’t have to worry about this with Phosphate, as that precipitation is absorbed in your skimmer.

Do this and make sure you change your PhosGuard more frequently than normal. Be patient as it took a minimum of 4 weeks before I started noticing a significant difference.

*also clean your sand as often as you can during this period to help remove as much diatoms as possible.

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03/18/2018, 08:54 PM	#1
BigDaddyD1992 Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2014 Posts: 254	Diatoms in coral/invert quarantine tank Hello, I've had dino's in 2 of my past systems and I've gotten rid of everything and started over with new tanks and equipment. I set up this coral/invert quarantine in effort to not have to deal with dino's anymore. I cycled the tank and then threw in some corals, I'm on about day 30 of them being in the tank. Now it appears that I'm getting diatoms, some on the glass and some on the frag plugs. I'm pretty sure it not dino but not 100% sure. In a bare bottom system like this would dino's accumulate in a dead spot? This seems like something diatoms would do because in my experience dino's are slimy and develop in "mats" and wouldn't blow around like this. It is also easily siphoned out. Also I'm not seeing any stringing with bubbles which I seen happen pretty quick with dino's. I might just be freaking out a bit, but does the timing seem right for the to possibly just be diatoms? I diped new corals and put them on brand new plugs before I added them to the quarantine system. Thanks Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk

03/18/2018, 09:07 PM	#2
Anotherplanet Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2017 Posts: 16	Just want to make sure you are distinguishing between cyno and diatoms. If you can post a photo with only whites on, that would help. Diatoms feed off of silicate. They also produce their own silicate, making ridding them nearly impossible. I lost a lot of coral from a diatom outbreak from a result of adding too much dry rock to my established tank. The only solution that worked for me was using Seachem PhosGuard because it removes silicate. Not here is the catch. If you have canisters, run it through that. But you need something like a filter sock to catch the water after it passes through the Phosguard. Why? Well it causes the silicate to precipitate and if it don’t catch that precipitation, then a large portion will go back into your water. You don’t have to worry about this with Phosphate, as that precipitation is absorbed in your skimmer. Do this and make sure you change your PhosGuard more frequently than normal. Be patient as it took a minimum of 4 weeks before I started noticing a significant difference. *also clean your sand as often as you can during this period to help remove as much diatoms as possible. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk