Diatoms? Anything I can do?

marvelfan

marvelfan

Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by MarvelFan http:///t/395566/diatoms-anything-i-can-do#post_3522282
Haven't fed the tank in 2 days now. on my second day of limited light and mostly darkness. Just running blues and no white lights. The sand is back to a white color. The red has regressed, but there are still some specs. I'm going to slowly add white light back in starting tomorrow night. My tests still show 0 nitrate and 0 phosphate at this point. I also added cheato last night to my sump, hoping it will help maintain the pH and absorb some nitrates as I kill off the cyano.
My corals seems fine since I'm running the blues they fully open when they come on. My anemone is fully inflated during the dark period, but when my blues come on it shrivels back and completely closes up. I'm still doing small 2 gallon water changes daily. Not much , but I plan on doing one more major 40 gallon change this weekend.
I went down before bed last night to check the tank and watch the lights go out and the sand was blotchy with brown/red again. I have my lights set to off for the entire day today. No blues or whites. Going to see if that helps. I'll go another day with out feeding as well. I seem to have lost some snails over the last week or so. I don't want to replace them until I know the conditions are safe. Everything is tesing well, but I'm not sure yet. Corals seem to be opening really wide when the lights come on.
I'm not really expecting cyano to die off over a couple days, but I hope to weaken it and then do my water changes and cut back feeding frequency to get rid of it.
I do love to feed my tank and make sure everything is getting nourishment. I'm starting to research carbon dosing as an alternative to give me the option to feed more without the extra nutrients lingering around in the tank.
First I'm going to try to get the tank back to stable, then I'll maybe look into vodka.
 
marvelfan

marvelfan

Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bang Guy http:///t/395566/diatoms-anything-i-can-do/20#post_3522296
What skimmer are you currently using?
First let me say, I will be upgrading to a new skimmer soon. I won't even consider vodka dosing until I do. I'm currently running a Coralife 60G skimmer, so it is definitely undersized. I'm running it hard and I have it hooked up to an air pump to increase its skim-mate production.
 
marvelfan

marvelfan

Member
I found some forums that stated that the only thing that worked for them to get rid of cyano was to dose carbon source to help starve it out. .. however, I also read in some places that the carbon source can also act to feed the cyano and make it worse.
Any observations or opinions on this? I don't really want to start messing around with dosing more to my tank until the cyano clears or I am forced to as a last resort. I've talked myself out of trying any of the chemical solutions... I'm not comfortable adding any chemical removers to my aquarium. I feel I should be able to control this naturally.
The carbon dosing seems fairly natural. I plan to use about 1/2 the recommended dose and ramp it up in 1/2 increments as well just to be on the safe side.
 
marvelfan

marvelfan

Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bang Guy http:///t/395566/diatoms-anything-i-can-do/20#post_3522322
Have you read any of the threads about Algae Scrubbers?
I haven't ... I'll have to look it up.. I had an UAS in my sump for the last several months, but I've only had to clean it about 3 times and it isn't much each time. I'm having issues keeping the air bubbles touching the screen.
I thought about installing a traditional waterfall scrubber instead.
Do you have any links to your threads?
 
beaslbob

beaslbob

Well-Known Member
I would just kill the lights and suspend feeding until it dies off.
then resume with less lighting and feeding and adjust until the desiarables thrive but not the ugiles
my .02
 
marvelfan

marvelfan

Member
I stopped feeding for most of last week. After the lights were out for about 2 days it seemed to really help. I am feeding much much less now and only every other day. The cyano is much less in the tank, however it is still present. I"m trying to do 5 gallons changes every day or 2 to help clean it up, but I may have to do larger changes soon. I've been cleaning my filter socks weekly to make sure nitrates do not build up.
The algae scrubber had been back in the tank for about a week and is starting to see some growth. Skimmer is running hard, but is seeing a lot less build up since I placed the filter socks in.
 
beaslbob

beaslbob

Well-Known Member
Quote:Originally Posted by MarvelFan http:///t/395566/diatoms-anything-i-can-do/20#post_3522285
 
I went down before bed last night to check the tank and watch the lights go out and the sand was blotchy with brown/red again. I have my lights set to off for the entire day today. No blues or whites. Going to see if that helps. I'll go another day with out feeding as well. I seem to have lost some snails over the last week or so. I don't want to replace them until I know the conditions are safe. Everything is tesing well, but I'm not sure yet. Corals seem to be opening really wide when the lights come on. 
 
I'm not really expecting cyano to die off over a couple days, but I hope to weaken it and then do my water changes and cut back feeding frequency to get rid of it. 
I do love to feed my tank and make sure everything is getting nourishment. I'm starting to research carbon dosing as an alternative to give me the option to feed more without the extra nutrients lingering around in the tank. 
 
First I'm going to try to get the tank back to stable, then I'll maybe look into vodka. 

I think you already have it in the downward slope. A think you will find that by adjusting the lighting and feeding and with the addition of the chaeto in a refugium you will balance out the tank so the desirables, the uglies (chaeto?) hidden in the refugium, fish and corals will all thrive while the display uglies will not be there.
Just takes some time and adjusting is all.
congrates
and as usual just my .02
 
noobzilla

noobzilla

Member
I had that same carpet last year for a short time, left my blue lights on a 10 hour cycle with my whites on 4 hours and cut back on feeding, and it was gone in a couple days. Since then I've changed the lighting back and cut down on feeding and haven't had a problem.
Here's what mine looked like.
 
scrapman

scrapman

Member
excellent answer.... thanks. I occasionally have the same problem with cyano in my 10 year-old 90 gal with 20 gal refugium... you're right: overfeeding and lack of water flow!
 
marvelfan

marvelfan

Member
Thanks all. I have cut back on the feedings. One cube every other day and some reef chili when I feed the cubes. I'm adjusted my lighting schedule again starting today. I'm going to run blues only today and then add whites in for 2 hours tomorrow, and one additional hour each day this week. I'll see if that helps. The red coverage is a lot less and there is no slimy areas, it looks like rust on the sand only and I have to clean the glass half as much as before... so I'll keep slowly killing it off. Also I will do a water change this weekend.
There must still be some phosphate or nitrate in the system even though I've been pretty good about cleaning out my sock filters on a weekly basis and changing my carbon and GFO on a monthly basis.
 
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