How do I get rid of diatoms

[DWill]

I’ve got diatoms in a two year old setup. I’ve been fighting it for a few weeks, but it’s getting worse. I tracked the source down to silica in my RODI water.

I meticulously maintain the DI resin so I’m not sure sure how this happened. I use two DI canisters rotating the second one to the first spot shortly before the first one is exhausted. I never let it change color completely and never let it even get to 1 PPM TDS. The second canister never sees even a little color change before it’s move. I always read 0 TDS on both DI canisters.
How the silicates got through, I don’t know.

I’ve ordered ordered a dual canister set with another TDS meter from BRS. I’m going to run Anio and Cation DI in those cannisters. That will feed to the two mixed bed DI canisters. Essentially I’ll have a 8 stage RODI filter.

My question is besides water changes what can I do to get rid of the diatoms? I can siphon the sand and I can blow them off the rock but they’ll just settle back Neil they starv out. I’ve read that Chemipure Blue will speed up the process, is this accurate?
Any help anyone can offer I appreciate, I want this gone before it becomes unmanageable.

 

[vetteguy53081]

I’ve got diatoms in a two year old setup. I’ve been fighting it for a few weeks, but it’s getting worse. I tracked the source down to silica in my RODI water.

I meticulously maintain the DI resin so I’m not sure sure how this happened. I use two DI canisters rotating the second one to the first spot shortly before the first one is exhausted. I never let it change color completely and never let it even get to 1 PPM TDS. The second canister never sees even a little color change before it’s move. I always read 0 TDS on both DI canisters.
How the silicates got through, I don’t know.

I’ve ordered ordered a dual canister set with another TDS meter from BRS. I’m going to run Anio and Cation DI in those cannisters. That will feed to the two mixed bed DI canisters. Essentially I’ll have a 8 stage RODI filter.

My question is besides water changes what can I do to get rid of the diatoms? I can siphon the sand and I can blow them off the rock but they’ll just settle back Neil they starv out. I’ve read that Chemipure Blue will speed up the process, is this accurate?
Any help anyone can offer I appreciate, I want this gone before it becomes unmanageable.

Will subside in time but you can siphon, reduce white light intensity and add snails such as nassarius, cerith, trochus And astrea

 

[vetteguy53081]

I’ve got diatoms in a two year old setup. I’ve been fighting it for a few weeks, but it’s getting worse. I tracked the source down to silica in my RODI water.

I meticulously maintain the DI resin so I’m not sure sure how this happened. I use two DI canisters rotating the second one to the first spot shortly before the first one is exhausted. I never let it change color completely and never let it even get to 1 PPM TDS. The second canister never sees even a little color change before it’s move. I always read 0 TDS on both DI canisters.
How the silicates got through, I don’t know.

I’ve ordered ordered a dual canister set with another TDS meter from BRS. I’m going to run Anio and Cation DI in those cannisters. That will feed to the two mixed bed DI canisters. Essentially I’ll have a 8 stage RODI filter.

My question is besides water changes what can I do to get rid of the diatoms? I can siphon the sand and I can blow them off the rock but they’ll just settle back Neil they starv out. I’ve read that Chemipure Blue will speed up the process, is this accurate?
Any help anyone can offer I appreciate, I want this gone before it becomes unmanageable.

I was at work which is rare on a weekend. To elaborate on this, diatoms are a brown algae that typically appear in a reef tank that has just completed its cycle but they can also appear in an established reef tank. They can cover sand, rock, pumps, glass, you name it. Diatoms look ugly but in most cases they are harmless so the key is to not panic when they appear.
Diatoms feed mainly off of silicates but also consume dissolved organic compounds, phosphate and nitrates. Unfiltered tap water can contain silicates and is a good way to jump start a bloom if you use it to mix salt or to replace water that evaporated from the tank. The best way to prevent this from happening is to filter water through a RODI unit, although you can still get a diatom bloom when using RODI if the cartridge that removes silicates expires.
diatoms are typically harmless to a captive reef and can be beaten once their food source expires. Once you put the kibosh on the source, the outbreak should last a couple of weeks so just be patient and it will pass. For major outbreaks you may want to consider the three day blackout. Diatoms are easily wiped from the glass with a mag float, a turkey baster or a toothbrush can access other areas of the tank. Be prepared for them to re-establish themselves quickly, they are likely to be able to resettle and have exponential growth rates.
To prevent their return, practice good aquarium husbandry by doing regular water changes, keep the substrate clean, don’t overfeed the fish, ensure your skimmer is running at an optimal level and rinse out filter socks and sponges on a regular basis.
Some cleaner crew to help control it are : Cerith snails, Nerite snails and Trochus snails and also Astraea snails are effective at removing diatoms.

 

[Dan_P]

I’ve got diatoms in a two year old setup. I’ve been fighting it for a few weeks, but it’s getting worse. I tracked the source down to silica in my RODI water.

I meticulously maintain the DI resin so I’m not sure sure how this happened. I use two DI canisters rotating the second one to the first spot shortly before the first one is exhausted. I never let it change color completely and never let it even get to 1 PPM TDS. The second canister never sees even a little color change before it’s move. I always read 0 TDS on both DI canisters.
How the silicates got through, I don’t know.

I’ve ordered ordered a dual canister set with another TDS meter from BRS. I’m going to run Anio and Cation DI in those cannisters. That will feed to the two mixed bed DI canisters. Essentially I’ll have a 8 stage RODI filter.

My question is besides water changes what can I do to get rid of the diatoms? I can siphon the sand and I can blow them off the rock but they’ll just settle back Neil they starv out. I’ve read that Chemipure Blue will speed up the process, is this accurate?
Any help anyone can offer I appreciate, I want this gone before it becomes unmanageable.

Could the organism be a dinoflagellate?

 

[DWill]

Could the organism be a dinoflagellate?

It’s possible but I don’t think so. It’s always there and when I clean it up it’s back soon after. Then there’s the silicates in RODI water, that’s kind of the give away I think.

 

[Dan_P]

It’s possible but I don’t think so. It’s always there and when I clean it up it’s back soon after. Then there’s the silicates in RODI water, that’s kind of the give away I think.

Good to know.

Does it really matter that the diatoms are there? Is it esthetics or are they causing harm?

 

[moz71]

Silicates in RODI is not a dead giveaway. I bet so little it should not be giving you a bloom you are stating. I bet it’s Dino’s!!!! One of the Dino’s out there looks just like diatoms. Rust color dusting but could get worse. What is you phos and nitrates at?

 

[Lavey29]

I’ve got diatoms in a two year old setup. I’ve been fighting it for a few weeks, but it’s getting worse. I tracked the source down to silica in my RODI water.

I meticulously maintain the DI resin so I’m not sure sure how this happened. I use two DI canisters rotating the second one to the first spot shortly before the first one is exhausted. I never let it change color completely and never let it even get to 1 PPM TDS. The second canister never sees even a little color change before it’s move. I always read 0 TDS on both DI canisters.
How the silicates got through, I don’t know.

I’ve ordered ordered a dual canister set with another TDS meter from BRS. I’m going to run Anio and Cation DI in those cannisters. That will feed to the two mixed bed DI canisters. Essentially I’ll have a 8 stage RODI filter.

My question is besides water changes what can I do to get rid of the diatoms? I can siphon the sand and I can blow them off the rock but they’ll just settle back Neil they starv out. I’ve read that Chemipure Blue will speed up the process, is this accurate?
Any help anyone can offer I appreciate, I want this gone before it becomes unmanageable.

I have the same problem, high silicon in my RODI according to ICP test. An extra silicon filter on your RODI should help. I'm looking to add to my 4 stage now too.

 

[DWill]

Silicates in RODI is not a dead giveaway. I bet so little it should not be giving you a bloom you are stating. I bet it’s Dino’s!!!! One of the Dino’s out there looks just like diatoms. Rust color dusting but could get worse. What is you phos and nitrates at?

Both are low. I've been fighting to keep them off of zero in fact. Phosphate is 0.03 and Nitrate is 1.7. Bothevtested Friday afternoon. It's possible it could be Dino, that was actually my first thought.

I'm may great the tank with a low dose of Dino X. Otherwise the only thing I know to do is raise the phosphate and Nitrate and siphon them off of the sand.

 

[moz71]

Both are low. I've been fighting to keep them off of zero in fact. Phosphate is 0.03 and Nitrate is 1.7. Bothevtested Friday afternoon. It's possible it could be Dino, that was actually my first thought.

I'm may great the tank with a low dose of Dino X. Otherwise the only thing I know to do is raise the phosphate and Nitrate and siphon them off of the sand.

Before dosing anything, can you get a cheap microscope and look at them though it? There are some great threads on here to help you confirm it. If you are fighting to keep n and p above zero then “could” be Dino’s. I guess my point is to try and confirm first before any action or spending money.

 

[stenopus]

Before dosing anything, can you get a cheap microscope and look at them though it? There are some great threads on here to help you confirm it. If you are fighting to keep n and p above zero then “could” be Dino’s. I guess my point is to try and confirm first before any action or spending money.

Moz, what kind of microscope to buy? any link from ebay would be preffred.