Why am I getting diatoms? grrrrrr

[briand7878]

My tank has been set up for a long time. I do water changes once every three weeks. I am using r/o water and even got new filter cartridges on them. I have m/h lighting and they are on for about 8 hrs per day. I never had this problem when i had p/c lighting. My parameters are all excellent. I do not have a phosphate test, so i have not tested those. Why would halides (if thats what it is) cause all the diatom problems. Oh i have 2 #4 koralias plus my water exchange for flow.

 

[briand7878]

anyone

 

[rebelprettyboy]

wat size tank? and whats ur clean up crew? and are u sure its diatoms?

 

[phtby]

Have You Added Any New Rock Or Sand To The Tank Lately? Or Even Done A Overhaul Of Your Aquascape? ... I Know A Long Time Ago I Added Some Garf Grundge To One Of My Tanks That Had Been Up For Almost 3 Years... I Ended Up With Same Problem..... I Was Told That Any Time That You Cause A Major Disruption In Your Tanks That Diatoms Could And Most Often Will Occur... They Usaully Will Subside In About A Week.... Or Atlest In My Circumstance That Was The Case..... Like I Said I Dont Know If This Will Be Much Help ...just Figured I Would Try To Give You Some Ideas As To What Could Have Caused You Diatom Bloom.....

 

[payton 350]

are the mh's new ?

 

[rebelprettyboy]

Why Da Caps In Da First Letter Of Every Word Lol

 

[briand7878]

The m/h are about 4 months old. I have not changed or added anything to my tank at all. Its a 125, and the clean up crew is.... about 100 crabs and probably 20 small snails. It all really started when i added the haildes.

 

[scopus tang]

Originally Posted by BRIAND7878
http:///forum/post/2660599
The m/h are about 4 months old. I have not changed or added anything to my tank at all. Its a 125, and the clean up crew is.... about 100 crabs and probably 20 small snails. It all really started when i added the haildes.
I really think you just answered your own question. When you upgraded the PC lights to the MH, you changed the lighting in your system, and began getting a diatom bloom. MH increase both the amount of light, as well as the penetration of light into the tank (and sometimes the light spectrum as well). When you added the MH did you go with a reduced light cycle or just go full scale? New lights should be introduced slowly in order to give the corals/algae in you tank time to adjust. Massive introduction can result in a algae bloom, which is what you are experiencing IMO. You can try reducing the lighting schedule to bring it back under control.

 

[payton 350]

just keep cleaning it (or clean up crew) and let it run it's cycle, no chemicals or anything...you could reduce your lighting for a while....but it will eventually go away.

 

[briand7878]

Even though its been 4 months?

 

[gweezpie]

check you silica and phosphate levels. They will cause blooms. Run some seachem phosguard if you do not have test kits. It will eliminate it and evetually knock out the bloom. Also, make sure you are skimming well and not over feeding but I'll bet it is a silica/phosphate issue.