HELP!! EMERGENCY!! Diatom problem

newreef23 · 04/23/2011, 07:37 PM

I need help bad!!! For the last 2 months I've been battling what I believe is Diatom algae (pictures below). I can't seem to make it go away. Up until the last couple of weeks my coral has still been happy and growing, but now they seem unhealthy and some have even bleached and died. The corals I have lost are a green slimer, bubble coral, a favia, and two chalices. Some corals that seem unhealthy are all 3 of my frog spawns (pictured), my torch coral (pictured), and my monticaps. The frog spawns and torch coral do not open up all the way and the monticaps have started bleaching. They have been this way for a week. However my maxima clam, inverts, and fish all all doing fine. I need help getting rid of this. Does anyone know whats wrong with my tank? Below is a complete live stock list of my tank and all the information about the water and set up. I'll try and give as much info as possible.

Fish: Hippo tang, yellow tang,2 orcelaris clowns, dragonet mandrin, 2 chromis
Inverts: 8 blue leg hermits, 5 red leg, 10 astrea snails, 1 serpent star, 1 emerald crab, 1 maxima clam

Coral: 3 frogspawn, 2 monticaps, 1 hammer coral, several zoa's, one brain coral, one acan, mushroom coral, one birdsnest, 1 torch, one leather toadstool.

System: 75 gallon tank with a 29 gallon sump/ refugium, protein skimmer, 2 powerheads, 110lbs of live rock, 120lbs live sand
Lighting: Light fixture with 2x 150watt MH, 4x 65watt PC act.

Dosing: purple up when calcium is needed and kent phbuff for alk.

Water Quality:
Calcium- 425
Phosphate: .1 ppm
pH: 8.4
Nitrate: 0ppm
Nitrite:0ppm
Ammonia: 0ppm
Salinity: 1.023
Water temp: constant at 80*F

Things I've tried:
Vacuuming it out, many times
3, 15% water changes
20% water change and adding the 29g sump

Does anyone know what could be killing my corals and causing the diatom algae?? How can I get rid of the diatom algae?? Is there a liquid additive that will kill diatoms that is reef safe??
Any help will be greatly appreciated!

http://s1227.photobucket.com/albums/...423111719a.jpg

http://s1227.photobucket.com/albums/...4231117191.jpg

newreef23 · 04/23/2011, 07:41 PM

O and by the way, the tank is 9 moths old

jaharr01 · 04/23/2011, 07:47 PM

ru using RO/DI water? diatoms feed on silica which is common in tap water.

newreef23 · 04/23/2011, 07:49 PM

Yes I get RO/DI from a local store

562R33f3r · 04/23/2011, 07:50 PM

Use red slime remover. Works wonders!

jaharr01 · 04/23/2011, 07:50 PM

BTW it looks like cyano algae.May try like a 50% water change.Chemipure elite and purigen.if all else fails may try peroxide dosing or maricyn (erythromyacin)

newreef23 · 04/23/2011, 07:57 PM

already tried redslime remover, did nothing. Is erythromyacin available over the counter?

jaharr01 · 04/23/2011, 08:02 PM

its maracyn i think its in red slime remover.Did you remove all ur carbon chemipure etc,Did you do it for the full 7 days?May look into hydrogen peroxide dosing .Gigantic thread about it on RC.

Nexenn · 04/23/2011, 08:17 PM

Have the store test the TDS of their RO/DI in front of you. Many stores sell water from units they haven't changed the filters in forever on. I've noticed silicate fed diatom blooms when my RO/DI was reading 2ppm which was cured with replacing the filters and doing a 3 day lights out period.

Sent from my PC36100 using Tapatalk

jaharr01 · 04/23/2011, 08:21 PM

i'm not sure it's diatoms looking at the pic.u should get ur own ro/di besides knowing ur water quality it's a lot more convenient.blacking out won't hurt for sure.

beastrx · 04/23/2011, 08:44 PM

It looks like it might be dinoflagellates to me, either way, are you running GFO and carbon? That will remove any phosphate and silicates in the water. .1 ppm is high enough to cause algae problems. Also, check your source water for phosphates and tds. That is probably the root of your problem, although you still need to run GFO and Carbon to get rid of what is there.
Also, make sure you are not running those lights too long. On that size tank running lights for more that 9 or 10 hours total you will have algae no matter what. Look into doing a couple days black out too. I have almost the exact same lighting on the same size tank and run my halides for only 7 hours and my actinics for an hour before and after.

jp634 · 04/23/2011, 09:57 PM

do 10 percent water change each week for 6 weeks. check into the water you are buying. it looks like bad water to me.

newreef23 · 04/24/2011, 07:22 AM

Thanks all for helping. I think im going to buy my own RO/DI unit and do a 50% water change, following up with a 10% change each week until I notice a difference. I was checking out another thread and they said something about old bulbs may be affecting it too? This would make sense because I bought that light used and the bulbs could be worn out. Let me know what you think.

Also, anyone know how I could quickly perk up the coral, I'd hate to lose them and I'm worried about doing a total black out while they look so bad

04/23/2011, 07:37 PM	#1
newreef23 Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2010 Posts: 16	HELP!! EMERGENCY!! Diatom problem I need help bad!!! For the last 2 months I've been battling what I believe is Diatom algae (pictures below). I can't seem to make it go away. Up until the last couple of weeks my coral has still been happy and growing, but now they seem unhealthy and some have even bleached and died. The corals I have lost are a green slimer, bubble coral, a favia, and two chalices. Some corals that seem unhealthy are all 3 of my frog spawns (pictured), my torch coral (pictured), and my monticaps. The frog spawns and torch coral do not open up all the way and the monticaps have started bleaching. They have been this way for a week. However my maxima clam, inverts, and fish all all doing fine. I need help getting rid of this. Does anyone know whats wrong with my tank? Below is a complete live stock list of my tank and all the information about the water and set up. I'll try and give as much info as possible. Fish: Hippo tang, yellow tang,2 orcelaris clowns, dragonet mandrin, 2 chromis Inverts: 8 blue leg hermits, 5 red leg, 10 astrea snails, 1 serpent star, 1 emerald crab, 1 maxima clam Coral: 3 frogspawn, 2 monticaps, 1 hammer coral, several zoa's, one brain coral, one acan, mushroom coral, one birdsnest, 1 torch, one leather toadstool. System: 75 gallon tank with a 29 gallon sump/ refugium, protein skimmer, 2 powerheads, 110lbs of live rock, 120lbs live sand Lighting: Light fixture with 2x 150watt MH, 4x 65watt PC act. Dosing: purple up when calcium is needed and kent phbuff for alk. Water Quality: Calcium- 425 Phosphate: .1 ppm pH: 8.4 Nitrate: 0ppm Nitrite:0ppm Ammonia: 0ppm Salinity: 1.023 Water temp: constant at 80*F Things I've tried: Vacuuming it out, many times 3, 15% water changes 20% water change and adding the 29g sump Does anyone know what could be killing my corals and causing the diatom algae?? How can I get rid of the diatom algae?? Is there a liquid additive that will kill diatoms that is reef safe?? Any help will be greatly appreciated! http://s1227.photobucket.com/albums/...423111719a.jpg http://s1227.photobucket.com/albums/...4231117191.jpg

04/23/2011, 07:50 PM	#5
562R33f3r Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2011 Location: SoCal LBC Posts: 384	Use red slime remover. Works wonders! __________________ -Ed === SCRK Member == Current Tank Info: 40B, Mix Reef, Mag 7 pump, 40B sump, 72W AquaStyle DIY dimmable DIY LEDs, AquaC Urchin Skimmed

04/23/2011, 08:44 PM	#11
beastrx Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: FL Posts: 131	It looks like it might be dinoflagellates to me, either way, are you running GFO and carbon? That will remove any phosphate and silicates in the water. .1 ppm is high enough to cause algae problems. Also, check your source water for phosphates and tds. That is probably the root of your problem, although you still need to run GFO and Carbon to get rid of what is there. Also, make sure you are not running those lights too long. On that size tank running lights for more that 9 or 10 hours total you will have algae no matter what. Look into doing a couple days black out too. I have almost the exact same lighting on the same size tank and run my halides for only 7 hours and my actinics for an hour before and after. __________________ I'm Dragon Wrasse Current Tank Info: 72 Mixed Reef

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04/23/2011, 07:41 PM	#2
newreef23 Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2010 Posts: 16	O and by the way, the tank is 9 moths old

04/23/2011, 07:47 PM	#3
jaharr01 Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2011 Posts: 56	ru using RO/DI water? diatoms feed on silica which is common in tap water.

04/23/2011, 07:49 PM	#4
newreef23 Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2010 Posts: 16	Yes I get RO/DI from a local store

04/23/2011, 07:57 PM	#7
newreef23 Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2010 Posts: 16	already tried redslime remover, did nothing. Is erythromyacin available over the counter?

04/23/2011, 08:02 PM	#8
jaharr01 Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2011 Posts: 56	its maracyn i think its in red slime remover.Did you remove all ur carbon chemipure etc,Did you do it for the full 7 days?May look into hydrogen peroxide dosing .Gigantic thread about it on RC.

04/23/2011, 08:17 PM	#9
Nexenn Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2010 Posts: 575	Have the store test the TDS of their RO/DI in front of you. Many stores sell water from units they haven't changed the filters in forever on. I've noticed silicate fed diatom blooms when my RO/DI was reading 2ppm which was cured with replacing the filters and doing a 3 day lights out period. Sent from my PC36100 using Tapatalk

04/23/2011, 08:21 PM	#10
jaharr01 Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2011 Posts: 56	i'm not sure it's diatoms looking at the pic.u should get ur own ro/di besides knowing ur water quality it's a lot more convenient.blacking out won't hurt for sure.

04/23/2011, 09:57 PM	#12
jp634 Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: wyoming Posts: 234	do 10 percent water change each week for 6 weeks. check into the water you are buying. it looks like bad water to me.

04/24/2011, 07:22 AM	#13
newreef23 Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2010 Posts: 16	Thanks all for helping. I think im going to buy my own RO/DI unit and do a 50% water change, following up with a 10% change each week until I notice a difference. I was checking out another thread and they said something about old bulbs may be affecting it too? This would make sense because I bought that light used and the bulbs could be worn out. Let me know what you think. Also, anyone know how I could quickly perk up the coral, I'd hate to lose them and I'm worried about doing a total black out while they look so bad