Diatoms Taking Over Tank!?

[SaltNoob]

So, I have diatoms growing, which is what I hear fairly normal. Now though my substrate all around the tank as well as the glass is getting covered in quite the blanket of the stuff.

Did I do something to cause it? Is there a good way to keep it at least out of the substrate?

 

[GrayScale]

What does your cuc consist of and what does "this stuff" look like?

 

[xxBarneyxx]

Any chance of some photos of it?

How long has the tank been set up for and what kind of sand did you use? Diatoms are common in newly setup tanks and can get pretty bad. The good news is that they will generally burn themselves out after awhile. Silica sand however can cause them.

 

[SaltNoob]

Here it is.

CUC consists of:

(4) Cerith Snails
(2) Astrea Snails
(4) Blue Hermits

The crew is going to town on it, however they don't like the sand. The sand I used was from Petco (UGH I know), but meant for sw tanks so who really knows what was in it.

Tank has been up with LR for 19 days.

 

[MissTracy]

I have no experience with Saltwater.....I'm too chicken to try it! I did have diatoms in my 55gallon mbuna tank and kept up on water changes and wiped it of daily with a toothbrush and paint brush. It finally went away after about a month. It also appeared in my 135gallon, but the bristlenose had it wiped out in a day!
Good Luck!

 

[xxBarneyxx]

I looks like a mixed of aragonite sand and crushed coral so should be fine. The diatoms here actually don't look too bad (I have seen much worse ). I know there not pretty but they will go away by themselves given time. Just once of the stages of the tank maturing really (and better than the green algae and cyanobacteria stages most of us end up dealing with later ).

Keep up with doing regular water changes using a decent brand of salt and good quality RO unit and it will help speed up the process.

That's some nice rock by the way and the 'scape looks pretty good too.

 

[SaltNoob]

Thanks for the compliments on scape!! I have an aptasia to kill and one other pseudo anem to kill too =( they are just babies at this point.

Ya, I look forward to it going away! I was going to go grab a couple nassarius snails to stir the sand a little bit, also an elec blue hermit? What do you think? I know the nass's stay in the sand so I thought it might help, and the elec blue hobbles around on the sand too.

I have R/O water from the LFS, and will be getting my own before long.

 

[xxBarneyxx]

Nassarius snails might be worth it, might not do a whole lot for the diatoms on the sand but they are useful CUC. Don't get too many of them at once though.

Hermits are debatable IMO. I have never found them to be particularly useful CUC and they can sometimes do more harm than good if you are going for a reef setup (depending on species which isn't always easy to figure out). All crab species tend to be opportunistic feeders and will often eat anything they can. Most hermits are also rock dwellers also so will not spend that much time out on the open sand.

That being said though hermit crabs are good fun to watch and look pretty cool. If you are careful with your selection they can be great fun to keep.

 

[SaltNoob]

Sounds good. I will get one for now and watch him/her. Couple more weeks and I might get some fish finally!

-Tyler