Diatom bloom? help please

ReefKnot · 02/01/2011, 04:24 PM

My tank finished cycling 5 weeks ago. The rock had been growing bright green algae, which you can kind of see, but then there was a bit of a disaster during cleaning, resulting in an ammonia spike, and over the last couple of days this brown stuff started to form over my nice green algae.... only about half my rock have this stuff growing, all on one side of the tank.... Flow problem, ammonia problem, or diatom bloom?

http://s1092.photobucket.com/albums/...t=IMG_1040.jpg

chull13 · 02/01/2011, 06:25 PM

Sounds like it could be a flow problem.. are you using RO water for top offs?

bswasta · 02/01/2011, 06:49 PM

Use a turkey baster to blast off the brown stuff. Don't use tap water to mix your water! Bad..bad..idea. I use distilled water and it works fine. Do a water change useing it.How long do you have your lights on? You might want to cut back the time they are on until you get this under control. I also used Phoslo in my tank when I had a Diatom bloom. It really seemed to help. Good luck!

Michael · 02/02/2011, 07:17 AM

Everything looks perfectly normal to me, the tank is, very, very new at only 5 weeks out of the cycle, The first 12 months usually sees a variety of algae's and bacteria's comming and going, The 2 pieces of rock in that photo look fine to me, Have you got enough snails in the tank? Are your lights running too long? Do you use nutrient free replacement water to top off evaporation on a regular basis? what live stock is in the tank?

Kind Regards

Mike

02/01/2011, 04:24 PM	#1
ReefKnot Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: Sudbury, Ontario, Canada Posts: 362	Diatom bloom? help please My tank finished cycling 5 weeks ago. The rock had been growing bright green algae, which you can kind of see, but then there was a bit of a disaster during cleaning, resulting in an ammonia spike, and over the last couple of days this brown stuff started to form over my nice green algae.... only about half my rock have this stuff growing, all on one side of the tank.... Flow problem, ammonia problem, or diatom bloom? http://s1092.photobucket.com/albums/...t=IMG_1040.jpg

02/02/2011, 07:17 AM	#4
Michael NTTH Rookie Help Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Gloucester, England,UK Posts: 7,808 Blog Entries: 6	Everything looks perfectly normal to me, the tank is, very, very new at only 5 weeks out of the cycle, The first 12 months usually sees a variety of algae's and bacteria's comming and going, The 2 pieces of rock in that photo look fine to me, Have you got enough snails in the tank? Are your lights running too long? Do you use nutrient free replacement water to top off evaporation on a regular basis? what live stock is in the tank? Kind Regards Mike __________________ Don't be afraid to ask questions, we in the new to the hobby are here to help you [For My Tank Spec,Photo Album,Articles and website, click on my name] MY Very Kindest and Warmest Regards , MIKE Current Tank Info: I have a 92 gal Corner Tank, and way too many pieces of equipment to list really, (proud member of the reef central corner club)

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02/01/2011, 06:25 PM	#2
chull13 Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2007 Posts: 60	Sounds like it could be a flow problem.. are you using RO water for top offs?

02/01/2011, 06:49 PM	#3
bswasta Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: PA Posts: 65	Use a turkey baster to blast off the brown stuff. Don't use tap water to mix your water! Bad..bad..idea. I use distilled water and it works fine. Do a water change useing it.How long do you have your lights on? You might want to cut back the time they are on until you get this under control. I also used Phoslo in my tank when I had a Diatom bloom. It really seemed to help. Good luck!