irregular shapes/diatoms going away

[celbrise]

i have 2 simple questions based on diatoms.

1. How do you get diatoms to go away on their own? I use tap water not RO/DI water so i assume im just feeding it however before they actually went away on their own with this same routine now I simply can't get them to go away. got a light fixture and they are just blooming crazy. bought some "phosphate sponge" which is supposed to remove the silicates that didn't work. trying it again but with a bigger batch since i used less then recommended to see what would happen.

2. is it natural to have irregular shapes in your algae/diatoms. I don't really have anything eating it but their are some weird splotches of emptiness in the diatom patches. if you ever seen coralline algae growing on the walls it reminds me of that but the opposite. the outside of the splotches are all diatoms while the inside is empty and clean. the diatoms just simply won't grow in those areas idk why.
definetly getting an RO/DI system but for now im just wondering what the hell is going on? i've NEVER seen these weird patches before

 

[1guydude]

I'd start getting ro water... U can get it at the grocery store from the water dispenser.
Without seeing ur tank or anything. The patches could be air bubbles coming up from under ur diatom bloom.
By using tap, ur feeding the silicates to the diatom. Yes it's beginning stages algae in a cycle...
Also a powerhead lower down or pointing at the sand will help.
Hths
D

 

[trigger40]

i lowerd my salinity and it killed them off.

 

[flower]

Hi,

Using tap is a problem because it feeds nuisance algae, which will come later if you don't at least start using RO water from a refill station at a grocery store. Water quality is the single most important thing when keeping a fish tank...it is not the thing to skimp on.

If you used live rock, a new tank will have some critters that survived inside them (which is why it's called "live" rock) and they may be trying to feed on them, which would explain the weird "shapes". SW critters, even tiny ones have their territory and stay in that area. Your water flow may also have something to do with it too.

It will eventually go away on it's own. Hermit crabs love the stuff ... and will get rid of it in a day or so, but they also kill and eat snails, so I don't know if you want to add them to your system or not. I would just ignore it unless it starts to grow hairy looking.

 

[celbrise]

I found out some of my fishes were nibbling on the diatoms I think it might of been that. been trying to get an RO system bleh money is tight right now. wish they sold some instores where I live sadly they dont