Constant battle with diatoms and some hair algae - what to do?

[Raazka]

For the last few weeks I’ve been reliving my annoying battle with diatoms and hair algae. Used to have a big issue with it in my 10 gallon even though it was about 7 months old and now it’s started up again in my new 30 though it’s a bit less intense.

30 gal has now been running for 2 months with old media, old + new water, old + new rocks and new sand. I run lights for about 5-6 hours per day, 2 powerheads for surface movement, ROWA in HOB for silicate, macro-algae for nutrient control. Hermit crabs and turbo snails for CUC. On Red Sea’s Coral Pro since it’s the one my LFS uses to make their water.

I get about a day or two after a clean-up + water change before diatoms starts to build back up on the sand and on the glass. I know that you need to wait until the “ugly stage” bloom passes, but it looked like it never did in my older tank so I’m getting worried that I’m cursed with it aha.

How long does the ugly stage usually last? Any way to get rid of it if it never cleans up, like adding an UV sterilization, setting up a protein skimmer, etc.?

 

[landlubber]

When you say "new rock" was it ocean live rock or the generic cement rock made to look like live rock. The reason i ask is that if it was dry live rock from the ocean there is a solid chance that it was never ridded of the dead organics that lived within it and you have a nutrient battery to expend before you get ahead of it.
What has worked for me in the past was to buy a spray bottle and peroxide. Generally the worst of the algae grows on the top line of your rock structure where the best light is so what worked for me was to one-by-one remove the rocks, scrub with a brush to get the algae off, dunk in a pail of prepared tank water, shake the water off and then generously spray the rock with peroxide and allow to sit for a few mins before dunking in another pail of prepared saltwater and return to the display.
you're going to have to focus your maintenance on manually removing the algae until your tank biologically is able to cope with the excess phosphate and nitrate.

 

[kingranch2003]

Copepods helped me tremendously with my diatom issue. It could've also been passage of time. The diatoms disappeared quickly after seeding and establishing a good population of pods. Then dose a little phyto to help sustain them.

 

[Lavey29]

For the last few weeks I’ve been reliving my annoying battle with diatoms and hair algae. Used to have a big issue with it in my 10 gallon even though it was about 7 months old and now it’s started up again in my new 30 though it’s a bit less intense.

30 gal has now been running for 2 months with old media, old + new water, old + new rocks and new sand. I run lights for about 5-6 hours per day, 2 powerheads for surface movement, ROWA in HOB for silicate, macro-algae for nutrient control. Hermit crabs and turbo snails for CUC. On Red Sea’s Coral Pro since it’s the one my LFS uses to make their water.

I get about a day or two after a clean-up + water change before diatoms starts to build back up on the sand and on the glass. I know that you need to wait until the “ugly stage” bloom passes, but it looked like it never did in my older tank so I’m getting worried that I’m cursed with it aha.

How long does the ugly stage usually last? Any way to get rid of it if it never cleans up, like adding an UV sterilization, setting up a protein skimmer, etc.?

Various types of ugly stages will occur throughout the first year and even beyond if the environment is not maintained properly. You're only at 2 months so 10 to go.

 

[Raazka]

When you say "new rock" was it ocean live rock or the generic cement rock made to look like live rock. The reason i ask is that if it was dry live rock from the ocean there is a solid chance that it was never ridded of the dead organics that lived within it and you have a nutrient battery to expend before you get ahead of it.
What has worked for me in the past was to buy a spray bottle and peroxide. Generally the worst of the algae grows on the top line of your rock structure where the best light is so what worked for me was to one-by-one remove the rocks, scrub with a brush to get the algae off, dunk in a pail of prepared tank water, shake the water off and then generously spray the rock with peroxide and allow to sit for a few mins before dunking in another pail of prepared saltwater and return to the display.
you're going to have to focus your maintenance on manually removing the algae until your tank biologically is able to cope with the excess phosphate and nitrate.

Rocks were bought live but are man-made. Nothing from my tank is directly from the wild ocean. The worst of the algae is on the sand bed and on the glass. Rocks are a bit affected but I can’t remove them since they have corals and essential bacteria on them. It would probably kill my tank to clean them lol.

Strangely, no phosphate readings (even though I don’t pull back on feedings) and nitrates are at 5-6 ppm. I have trouble understanding where exactly these diatoms come from.

 

[Raazka]

Various types of ugly stages will occur throughout the first year and even beyond if the environment is not maintained properly. You're only at 2 months so 10 to go.

Could be exactly that, I’ve been told multiple times that the ugly stage doesn’t last beyond a few months. Any idea why some people have really clean sand even though their tank is only a few months old?

 

[Raazka]

Copepods helped me tremendously with my diatom issue. It could've also been passage of time. The diatoms disappeared quickly after seeding and establishing a good population of pods. Then dose a little phyto to help sustain them.

Any specific specie that you’d recommend or are they all pretty good for diatom control?

 

[kingranch2003]

A good multi species blend might be your best bet. Some are more prone to live around the rocks, some pods live more in the water column. Another member might have a better answer as to the best one. The three species snackle box from dinkins is what I used and dose their phyto or reefnutrition phyto feast.

 

[landlubber]

Rocks were bought live but are man-made. Nothing from my tank is directly from the wild ocean. The worst of the algae is on the sand bed and on the glass. Rocks are a bit affected but I can’t remove them since they have corals and essential bacteria on them. It would probably kill my tank to clean them lol.

Strangely, no phosphate readings (even though I don’t pull back on feedings) and nitrates are at 5-6 ppm. I have trouble understanding where exactly these diatoms come from.

i'm starting to wonder if your diatoms are actually dinoflagellets but without a microscope to confirm its a tough diagnosis.

 

[Lavey29]

Could be exactly that, I’ve been told multiple times that the ugly stage doesn’t last beyond a few months. Any idea why some people have really clean sand even though their tank is only a few months old?

Each tank is unique. My sand is dirty but my corals are thriving huge.

 

[Outlaw Corals]

Get a algae scrubber and never worry about it again

 

[Raazka]

i'm starting to wonder if your diatoms are actually dinoflagellets but without a microscope to confirm its a tough diagnosis.

Thought that also, they don’t visually look like dinos but I can’t be certain without looking closely

 

[kingranch2003]

Get a algae scrubber and never worry about it again

Do you of any Algae scrubbers that work well in the back of an AIO? With not sump, the compartments are so small.

 

[kevgib67]

The stages you are and going to go through are normal stages on your way to a mature and stable tank. We all wanted are tanks to look like the beautiful tanks we see on here but remember those tanks went through these ugly stages as well to-get to where they are now. Every ugly stage you go through gets you closer to where you want to be.

 

[Outlaw Corals]

Do you of any Algae scrubbers that work well in the back of an AIO? With not sump, the compartments are so small.

How big is the tank ? I have a hang on for my AIO it’s only a 30 gallon tank

 

[kingranch2003]

How big is the tank ? I have a hang on for my AIO it’s only a 30 gallon tank

It's a 40 gallon recife cube. I limited myself to about two inches between the backglass and the wall.

 

[Outlaw Corals]

ice cap makes the hang on the back scrubber rated up to 70 gallons

 

[Solo McReefer]

Various types of ugly stages will occur throughout the first year and even beyond if the environment is not maintained properly. You're only at 2 months so 10 to go.

Absolutely

And cyano

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Diatoms are not typically a problem without a big ongoing source of silicate. What source water do you use for top off and water changes?

 

[reefpanda]

Are you running too much white light?