Attack of the Diatoms

[Lutdfie]

hi there,

been battered by the diatom blooms lately..ani suggestion on how to control/manage it?

my husbandry routines include 20% water change weekly(mixture of sea water n syntetic sea water).

lights r on for 14 hrs at most.

[islander]

reduce lighting period drastically.it really really helps..

[typrobin]

wah lights on for 14hrs??

i think about 9-10 hrs enuf liao lah...ur LS needs to sleep also .and diatom, if not enuf light will go to sleep forever.

oh yah, i think water circulation is important also..i read it somewhere b4.correct me if i'm wrong....

[Lutdfie]

so by reducing the lights timing will helps?

geezs!!!

[JustinK]

Yep, i on my lights on shorter cycles nowadays and my diatom are slowly going away, starve them of lights and they die. But think ur light cycle abit long leh, try 10-12 hours should be enough, mine is around them period of time and my tank's doing fine... other ways are to dose Phosguard which i jus added to my tank, a cheaper alternative to Rowaphos but works pretty fine all the same... try limiting ur feeding too.. my 2 cents worth...

[ah^siao]

phospate remover... reduce feeding.. reduce lighting hours... up to 6 is enough till the diatoms period is over... try 24/7 lighting in the refugium? all the diatoms will grow inside there instead..

[sunnymau]

try 24/7 lighting in the refugium? all the diatoms will grow inside there instead..

which meanit it is good to have diatoms in the refugium? is diatoms a kind of macroalgea? i hav not seen it before and dont what is it

[Acanthurus pyroferus]

use a powerhead to clear detritus from your LR's too and siphon off any remaining waste on your DSB after that. Do this when doing your water changes weekly...will also help prevent hair algae later on. Be careful of your saltmixes that may contain phosphates in them and your water source. Stop feeding with pellets as they too contain phosphates liao...

[AlfaRomeo]

What about cyclops-eeze? any idea if they contain phosphates too? both the fried dried and the frozen versions?

[Acanthurus pyroferus]

I think the frozen version should be fine but the freeze dried I am a bit concerned.....

[Lutdfie]

Phosguard - checked

Reduce feeding - checked(once a day using frozen brine shrimp now)

Reduce lighting period - checked(7 hrs a day..6pm till 1am)

Will do wat Acanthurus pyroferus says dis wekend

but wat about the water circulation thinngy dat typrobin mention?

to all

[FuEl]

Notice alot of people having diatom bloom now..even established display tanks in some lfs...

Is there some change in tapwater content?

[arcanehacker]

hows the new product doing? ... algae clearing? ..

[smpolyp]

From what I know Diatoms feed on silicates like we do calcium. Meaning they use it for there building structure like we use cacium for our bones. Eliminate the silicate and diatoms stuggle to grow. It maynot be that easy. Silicates are one of the hardest elements to remove from water. Most absorbents will remove phosphate before they can remove silicates. This is an approach of pure water always. Robbing the system at every end. I like the idea stated above of refugiums robbing the system of food for additional algae.

[junyong84]

thot someone mention is this forum tat PR is selling a product called Sailicarbon tat can clear diatoms?

[FuEl]

I'm still waiting for the product to do its work...diatoms still present.

[junyong84]

I'm still waiting for the product to do its work...diatoms still present.

any signs of less diatoms?