Diatoms

[carlkeef]

I need some help, could anybody please tell me what I can do to control my diatom problem, weather it would be live animals that eats it or mechanical, I do vaccum my sand but it keeps comming back....I am looking for suggestions all is welcome, and thank you...

 

[kynekke]

Are you using tap water? How long are you running your lights in a day?

 

[lovecraft]

Get some snails, cerith, nerites, or astreas. Turbos supposed to work good too, but I have heard can be bulldozers in your tank. Diatoms are supposed be a natural part of a new tank. Results from excess nutrients. Cut back some on feeding is supposed to help too.

 

[estein02]

Astraea snails and turbo snails took care of my diatom bloom. For my 65 gal I go t3 turbos and 10 astraea's...also cut back the lighting period. Took about a week to go away.

 

[srfisher17]

Ditto on the new tank comment. Big culprit can be too much silicate, you can test for it. Test tap water also. Coralife makes a good silicate remover.

 

[biotank14]

the best thing for your sand is a Sand Sifting Starfish they work so great.i had that same problem and got one in my 14 gal and with in 8hrs my sand was clean and the good thing about them is they only eat diatoms unlike a horse shoe crab which once it eats all the diatoms it will eat the good stuff that lives in your sand...and dont worry about the star fish running out of food b/c you will always have diatoms....

 

[carlkeef]

Thanks for all of the suggestion I guess I will go out and get some astriea snails, I do have a sand sifter staR

 

[carlkeef]

Thanks for all of the suggestion I guess I will go out and get some astriea snails, I do have a sand sifter staR that dones not seem to be doing the trick for some reason.....

 

[kenjr]

"Phosphate + Silicate Magnet
Remove phosphate and silicate from fresh and saltwater aquariums with this In a typically managed 125 gallon marine/reef aquarium, one unit should reduce phosphate and silicates to near zero levels for at least 6 months " I had that brown (ditom) algae in my 135 gal and i hated it. i was cleaning it all the time got to a point i didnt want to even look at my tank,then i tried this Phosphate + Silicate Magnet and it started killing it, a little at first & then GONE. it works great for me but it only lasts about 2 months for me then i need to replace it (not 6 ) but im ok with that i dont have any ditom problems

im new to the hobby . ive been coming here daily reading everything i can on this site ,trying to learn . now i would like to help if i can .... good luck with the brown algae

 

[reefreak29]

BROWN DIATOM ALGAE: usually accurs in newer reef tanks. mostly because of the introduction of live rock, wich introduces silicates and nutrients to your tank.
a brown film soon coats your sand bed.The control of diotoms is fairly easy.u first need a benificial cleen up crew trochus and astraea snails eagerly consume the brown diotoms. The second thing u want to do is perform regular water changes to remove access nutrients.

 

[i-love-pontiac]

Hmm... I use tap water and have some diatoms.
Is distilled water any better, or do you really need RO water?

 

[reefreak29]

Originally Posted by I-Love-Pontiac
Hmm... I use tap water and have some diatoms.
Is distilled water any better, or do you really need RO water?
ro is the way to go

 

[i-love-pontiac]

Originally Posted by reefreak29
ro is the way to go

Well no place around here sells it.

 

[reefreak29]

Originally Posted by I-Love-Pontiac
Well no place around here sells it.
it would even be ok to use di water from the grocery store

 

[srfisher17]

I'd test my tap water before buying di water. I know some areas have very high silicate and/or phosphate levels in tap water. My tap water has almost none. Your water dept can also give a pretty good report on what IS in your tap water--if anything scares you; then di water is a wise investment.

 

[rabbit_72]

An RO unit is not as expensive as I had once thought and was fairly easy to install. I'd buy one of those and that will help.

 

[carlkeef]

Would emeral crabs be helpful with the diatoms????

 

[reefreak29]

Originally Posted by carlkeef
Would emeral crabs be helpful with the diatoms????
no

 

[janicebembry]

I can tell you what worked in 2 days for my 55 gallon tank. I bought 5 Mexican turbo snails from this site. All my diatoms on glass gone in 2 days. Substrate and rocks looking better in 3. Everybody thinks I did something major to the tank. They work much better than the smaller snails IMO.