Diatom

[nakazoru]

Bros & Sis;

I heard enuf of advise abt this pest algae. PO4 and silica...

I wana to see if anyone did not have this problem now, thus your winning formula.

I think this will works but see if all is necessary:

1. DI/RO water

2. Rowaphos

3. Temp 26 deg

My problem worsen since I change to 4 x T5 tube. Only sand & glass get it major. LR it okay bcos of Mr Bleeny...

[patrick123]

Two other options are : (1) grow macroalgae and (2) drip kalkwasser.

[nakazoru]

Two other options are : (1) grow macroalgae and (2) drip kalkwasser.

I dun have a sump so no macro algae. Kalkwasser I bought already, but for my coraline, not yet administer, need to get a dripper... But I know Kalkwasser has limited effects.

[flamey]

u can try increase water flow..

[nakazoru]

u can try increase water flow..

Okay, flow i have, constant sand storm/movement circular movement. But diatom hardens and spread...

[May&Bruce]

nakazoru....i had the same problem for the frist 3 months in my 5 foot reef tank. Then I did a whole lot of things........backed off the light, added phosphate remover, added lots more snails and hermits but mostly I put it down to increasing the current in the tank - both the turnover (was 5 times an hour and is now 10 times) and added an extra power head.

Now I have zero diatom

[nakazoru]

nakazoru....i had the same problem for the frist 3 months in my 5 foot reef tank. Then I did a whole lot of things........backed off the light, added phosphate remover, added lots more snails and hermits but mostly I put it down to increasing the current in the tank - both the turnover (was 5 times an hour and is now 10 times) and added an extra power head.

Now I have zero diatom

Okay;

My cleaning crew is super crew, I call it. No diatom on LR. Snail and blennie did a fantastic jobs. But it is just that snail hardly goes to the sand and glass. Blennie yes, goes to glass but month uneven and leaves a stain of diatom on the glass. Hermit is just a piece of shit I get, does nottin but eats tube worms. Has since starved to death.

Flow, I dun have a big tank like yours and any higher flow I'll have sand storm (Grade 0). Anyway this tank I have is close to 3 years but diatom nvr goes away...

Light on timer for 10hrs.

My action plan for now:

1. Bought Rowa already, add next week. (Reservist 2morow.)

2. Bought Kalkwasser already, need a dripper for the job.

3. Replace brand of salt to Marine Enviroment, 0 PO4 (Done)

4. Bring down temp, now at 29deg constant.

[May&Bruce]

...scratching my head.....this is supposed to be a very relaxing and soothing hobby but actually is very stressful!

I read on another site (or in a book?) that flow is more important than nutrients in the water.....but your flow is already good. Like most things, it is probably caused by lots of little things contributing.....silicate, phosphate, flow, etc, so once you have eliminated them all the problem may go away.

I used to rake the sand daily, to break up the diatom and stop it going hard.

Do you have any sand sifters...e.g. gobies?

Keep perservering...good luck!

[nakazoru]

...scratching my head.....this is supposed to be a very relaxing and soothing hobby but actually is very stressful!

I read on another site (or in a book?) that flow is more important than nutrients in the water.....but your flow is already good. Like most things, it is probably caused by lots of little things contributing.....silicate, phosphate, flow, etc, so once you have eliminated them all the problem may go away.

I used to rake the sand daily, to break up the diatom and stop it going hard.

Do you have any sand sifters...e.g. gobies?

Keep perservering...good luck!

No Goby.

Piss off today man. I suppose to report for reservist this morning and damn the canister leaks water. Lucky a small leak, Just a small flood, one towel wipes it all. Shut it down and go report.

Come home for nights off, the stupid diatom invade bcos of lesser flow... Silicon the canister, waiting for it to dry.

Sand sifter goby only burrow in sand, but dun eliminates diatom....

[nakazoru]

Improvment so far:

1. Added Rowa already.

2. Dosing Kalkwasser already, dripper done.

Seen improvement since running both for second days.

It is not that diatom is gone, but can see that the diatom's growth is retarted. It takes a while for the rowa to suck the shit out of PO4, I guess.

Kalkwasser is suppose to reacts with the aquarium waters' CO2 to produce calcium and stuff in the process retard the growth of diatom. But slowly too I guess.

One thing for sure is that it will promote coraline growth and also enhance the well being of coral. Today I saw that coral's color variation. Mushroom, zoo are brighter in color, zoo even change from light yellow to light orange. Even blennie change change color in a instance (light grey to dark grey)

Will keep up to date.

[dreamzcape]

yep keeps the updates coming! i'm sure many will benefit from such shared experiences and information

[dreamzcape]

naka no updates? all the best for the upcoming workshop!

[tineng]

my formula is patient lor.......i waited 2 months for the diaton problem to go away.....did nothing special.....clean the glass and do weekly 10% water change.....for me it was acutally quite relaxing to watch my tang feeding whole day on them and grew really fat....

[nakazoru]

naka no updates? all the best for the upcoming workshop!

Update it shall be.

After executing the last exercise of:

1. Added Rowa already.

2. Dosing Kalkwasser already, dripper done.

I normally use overnight tap water + Kalkwasser for top up, diatom up til tuesday still appears, but much less. I have been executing the above for 4 days, still have to rake the sand and clean the glass every day but take less time.

From yesterday nite, I instead of using tap water, I use distill water for the first time, for whole day today.

Came home after work, surprise no visible diatom on first sight, not on sand or glass. Closer inspection, see very very faint trace on sand. D@mn I happy.

I will be still monitor for a while to confirm this, as this is the full day of top-up with distill water. Cannot be conclusive.

I attach a pix of the tank but I a lousy user, cannot get the exact color and focus of my tank.

[nakazoru]

This guy is a miracle of my tank, no diatom on rocks.

[nakazoru]

This is the best color/focus that I manage to take. The rest sucks...

Anyway thats my cheapo 3 SGD zoo and mushies...

[dreamzcape]

hmmz i see...guess the regime off running rowa + using distilled water for kalk helps alot...did u redirect or change the flow of your tank in anyway?

[nakazoru]

hmmz i see...guess the regime off running rowa + using distilled water for kalk helps alot...did u redirect or change the flow of your tank in anyway?

Same flow, no redirection. But I do rake my sand for Nitrogen to release and abit of food for coral.

[dreamzcape]

hmmz ok...shall try next time i tio diatoms....u running rowa in a FR?

[dreamzcape]

oops blur..didn't see that u running in canister

[nakazoru]

oops blur..didn't see that u running in canister

No worries