When will diatoms go away

[jw1977]

I've had diatoms now for a couple of weeks. It goes away at night I assume with the cleanup crew eating it and then comes back once the lights come back on. How long does this usually go on for? My tank has been up and running for about 2 months. I have a 1 clownfish and 1 foxface as well as a cleanup crew and cleaner shrimp.

 

[trigger11]

Originally Posted by jw1977
http:///forum/post/2471641
I've had diatoms now for a couple of weeks. It goes away at night I assume with the cleanup crew eating it and then comes back once the lights come back on. How long does this usually go on for? My tank has been up and running for about 2 months. I have a 1 clownfish and 1 foxface as well as a cleanup crew and cleaner shrimp.

Here are some basic generalities about diatoms.
1. They will stick around longer if you have added livestock before they have disappeared. This is because now you would have livestock in there creating more ammonia to go through the nitrification cycle and the system is not ready for it yet.
2. The diatom period can also be effected by the duration the lights are left on. If no corals are in the tank you can reduce the lighting period down to about 6 hours a day.
3. Diatom length can also be effected by the type of water used. Tap water or RO water for example. Tap water will typically have more nutrients in it which will feed the diatoms.
4. The size of the cleanup crew can also be a factor. How many hermit crabs are there compared to the size of the tank?
Hope that helps.
~Trigger

 

[foxface2]

what are diatoms?

 

[scopus tang]

Diatoms are a single-celled golden-brown algae with a silica shell. Under a microscope, marine diatoms are absolutely gorgeous to look at because of the geomentric designs in their shells (which are the only visible part). In a SW tank they cover the surface of the rocks, sandbed, and glass with a brownish-yellow growth that is consumed by some members of a clean-up crew. When they experience a bloom, their numbers can become so large that they cover other corals, blocking the light and killing them. They are always present to some degree in any saltwater system. The goal is to prevent them from blooming. Hope that helps.

 

[big]

Originally Posted by Scopus Tang
http:///forum/post/2471844
Diatoms are a single-celled golden-brown algae with a silica shell. Under a microscope, marine diatoms are absolutely gorgeous to look at because of the geomentric designs in their shells (which are the only visible part). In a SW tank they cover the surface of the rocks, sandbed, and glass with a brownish-yellow growth that is consumed by some members of a clean-up crew. When they experience a bloom, their numbers can become so large that they cover other corals, blocking the light and killing them. They are always present to some degree in any saltwater system. The goal is to prevent them from blooming. Hope that helps.

Yep Google the term, they are neat to look at all the shapes......

 

[rune]

We are seeing the same issue. Our 55 gallon has been setup for a month now. I assume what we have is Diatoms, it's a brown sand like covering across the bed and rocks. If you wipe it off the glass it sticks together a bit but otherwise just looks like dirty sand. It has practically taken over the tank overnight. I think part of the problems we are having is 1.) we leave the lights on for the entire day and 2.) we use tap water for the top offs (but an RO is in the budget for next week or so!)
Here is a picture from a few days ago, there is about 5x as much now. The sand bed used to be white sand and crushed coral.

Our cleaning crew consists of 13 hermit crabs.