ATI ICP Results, Need Help

[Kozman]

I received my test results and need help on which path I should take. My tank is a 40 gallon reefer, 5 fish and 6 corals. I've been having an diatoms issue for 4+months(I think it's diatoms) but may be something else. I had a prior post on Diatoms which gives the history but basically it all started when I added a man made rock in November which I think is made from portland cement and crushed stone??. I got it from a local college bio class mate of my daughter, they are not sure what it is made of which could be my issue of it leaching something not good for the tank. The red flags from the test mostly were Bromine 88mg/l verses Ideal 68mg/l and Strontium 9.84 mg/l verses 8.11 Ideal which were flagged as Attention Increased value. Fluorine 0.61 mg/l verses Ideal Value 1.32 mg/l and Iodine 24.35 ug/l verses Ideal Value of 65.92 ug/l were listed as Critical Too Little, Zinc was Critical Too High12.60 ug/l verses Ideal Value of 2.03 . The Zinc seemed alarmingly high. The test for my RODI came up completely clean , no issues. The Base and Major elements were fine, Salt, KH, MG, Calc, PO4, NO3, all in line. So the question is it my man made rock causing this issue, let me know what you think

 

[Kozman]

Latest pics

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

I do not see issues in the ICP data that causes algae issues.

What did the ICP say about Si?



Hard to tell diatoms from cyano and other issues in a picture.

 

[Kozman]

SI was in line.

Si - Silicon
141.4 µg/l - Ideal value: 101.4 µg/l

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

SI was in line.

Si - Silicon
141.4 µg/l - Ideal value: 101.4 µg/l

Ideal means plenty for diatoms. To control diatoms, if that is what they are, needs lower levels. But the fact that there is so much suggests they are not diatoms.

 

[Kozman]

If it's not Diatoms, what do you think it is?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

It may be Cyanobacteria. Hard to know from just a picture.

 

[Kozman]

i thought it could be Cyano but I tried Chemi Clean a month ago and it did nothing... I'm at a loss here. It looks like Diatoms cause it blows off easy with turkey baster off the sand. It not like a purple mat or dark in color, it looks like cinnamon sugar. I tried dosing Microbacter 7, Hydrogen peroxide, lowering lights, copepods ect. My next step is to order another stronger pump, Nero 5, hopefully more flow will help

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

i thought it could be Cyano but I tried Chemi Clean a month ago and it did nothing... I'm at a loss here. It looks like Diatoms cause it blows off easy with turkey baster off the sand. It not like a purple mat or dark in color, it looks like cinnamon sugar. I tried dosing Microbacter 7, Hydrogen peroxide, lowering lights, copepods ect. My next step is to order another stronger pump, Nero 5, hopefully more flow will help

Does it grow on the glass? Diatoms grew yellowish brown on my glass when I dosed silicate, as opposed tot eh green it was when not dosing silicate.

Cyano can be many different colors, but I'm not saying yours is not diatoms.

 

[Kozman]

This is pic on glass and one on sand, it usually is not on the glass mostly on sand bed.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

I'm just not sure how you can be getting enough silicate for that to be diatoms if the RO/DI was not significant in silicate.

Anyway, I agree its an issue.

How old is the tank?

 

[Kozman]

The tank is 10 months running

 

[Kozman]

Should i try a 30-50% water change, will that help?, change the sand?. I also seem to have algae on my rock, what can I do about that?, add more beneficial bacteria. It's been since mid November my sand has looked like this, my water parameters seem to be ok, nothing really out of whack - not really sure what the issue is...

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

This not the sort of issue that water changes help with, IMO.

What was the source of the rock and sand?

 

[Kozman]

The rock could be suspect, it was giving to me by my daughters university bio class. For some of the class projects they used reef tanks for studies. She is not sure what it is made of, she was told man made, most likely portland cement and crushed coral but can't be 100% sure. I also don't think it was cycled, basically had it in a bucket for a few days. It was definitely dense and heavy when i put it in. The more I think about it, the problem started around the time when I put it in the tank-duh!. The sand was bought a local fish store, don't remember the brand, but it definitely was not play sand lol. Should I replace the "rock" with live cured rock?

 

[Kozman]

Did a 15% water change yesterday and the sand is still covered this morning, I can't believe it's around after 5 months. My numbers are good so still baffled on what is causing it. I'm starting to lean towards my rock since it all started after I added it. Should I take it out and replace?..I'm out of my mind with this tank

 

[Kozman]

Another update, I removed the rock structure and added 30 lbs cured live rock from a local fish store. I still have the diatoms on the sand, I'm at a complete loss, my numbers are all good, it's driving me nuts. Can I replace the sand at this point?. What should I do?, any suggestions?

 

[killer2001]

Reduce silicates and make sure you got a healthy population of copepods, they love diatoms.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Another update, I removed the rock structure and added 30 lbs cured live rock from a local fish store. I still have the diatoms on the sand, I'm at a complete loss, my numbers are all good, it's driving me nuts. Can I replace the sand at this point?. What should I do?, any suggestions?

What sort of sand is it?

 

[TheGrimReeferTx]

Also, might be worth slowing down on the water changes if your No3 can handle it. Water changes could be bringing in silicates and extending the issue.