Diatoms

[joeyprice]

My tank has been up and running for 5 months or so now and I'm only now starting to get into ugiles. The diatoms are terribad. I can clean the glass literally every couple hours and see noticeable accumulation. The tank is 100g and has a yellow/white wrasse, a blue throat trigger, a sailfin tang and a pair of clowns. The corals are LPS and soft. My tang and trigger always look skinny to me, so I've probably been overfeeding, and am trying to cut back on that a little. The lights run 10 hours and I've dialed the whites back to barely on. There is red ogo growing in the sump and a RO skimmer that seems to be doing a pretty good job pulling out funk.
I change 10-15% of the water every 2 weeks. I have some phosguard running in a reactor right now and change it every 4 days to bring down phosphates, which were running high at .2. Nitrate is about 20.
Aside from more frequent water changes is there anything else I can do to get through this without having to clean the class once an hour?

 

[gill]

In my experience, a U/V unit helps. On nutrients, cut back on feeding. Triggers and tangs do put out a lot of waste. If it were me, I'd want phos and nitrates about half of where you have them. But on the other hand, if everything is healthy, I would consider just plowing through and making no changes (except perhaps the U/V). Don't chase numbers. Watch your livestock.

 

[SaltwaterGardening]

Our diatoms increase when the phosphate reactor loses efficiency or is clogged at the filter. I’m also running Phosban reactor instead of Phosgard now, which is doing a better job. As suggested, I too run a small UV sterilizer.

 

[joeyprice]

Our diatoms increase when the phosphate reactor loses efficiency or is clogged at the filter. I’m also running Phosban reactor instead of Phosgard now, which is doing a better job. As suggested, I too run a small UV sterilizer.

What size UV are your running?

 

[lmm1967]

you're at a tough stage right now - tank is maturing, you have a decent bioload and ugly things are happening - IMO part of the natural process a healthy tank will go through.

One thing to confirm - are you sure they are diatoms and not dinoflagellates ?

Ultimately it sounds like you are taking all the right paths and should continue on without too much change - at least not drastic changes.

If you are feeding flake food I would try to slow down on that and feed mainly nori & frozen foods, keep the flow up in the tank, if you are running socks or sponge filters of any kind clean them daily or as close to daily as you can.

regarding your fish - were they quarantined and if so was it with something that will kill internal parasites?

 

[joeyprice]

you're at a tough stage right now - tank is maturing, you have a decent bioload and ugly things are happening - IMO part of the natural process a healthy tank will go through.

One thing to confirm - are you sure they are diatoms and not dinoflagellates ?

Ultimately it sounds like you are taking all the right paths and should continue on without too much change - at least not drastic changes.

If you are feeding flake food I would try to slow down on that and feed mainly nori & frozen foods, keep the flow up in the tank, if you are running socks or sponge filters of any kind clean them daily or as close to daily as you can.

regarding your fish - were they quarantined and if so was it with something that will kill internal parasites?

I'm not sure, but its not stringy and there are no air bubbles in it, just sort of a brown dusting mainly on the glass, but also on the one rock in the center of the tank where the light from the 2 fixtures overlaps.
Fish were not QT'd but they have been in there for quite a while now and they seem happy, just kinda skinny. I was over at SaltwaterGardenings place a while back and her Sailfin looked so fat and happy, mine looks like its been living on prison rations.

 

[lmm1967]

I'm not sure, but its not stringy and there are no air bubbles in it, just sort of a brown dusting mainly on the glass, but also on the one rock in the center of the tank where the light from the 2 fixtures overlaps.
Fish were not QT'd but they have been in there for quite a while now and they seem happy, just kinda skinny. I was over at SaltwaterGardenings place a while back and her Sailfin looked so fat and happy, mine looks like its been living on prison rations.

If the fish are eating well and not gaining weight - there's a good potential for internal parasites - I would consider treating for that, it's simple and safe.

Do you run filter socks or other mechanical filtration?

 

[SaltwaterGardening]

What size UV are your running?

My UV is a Coralite Turbo Twist 3x. I run it 24/7 unless Ive taken a break for 24 hours after I’ve dosed Dr Tims All in One bacteria following a major filter cleaning or water change.

 

[timeconsumer]

I'm not sure, but its not stringy and there are no air bubbles in it, just sort of a brown dusting mainly on the glass, but also on the one rock in the center of the tank where the light from the 2 fixtures overlaps.
Fish were not QT'd but they have been in there for quite a while now and they seem happy, just kinda skinny. I was over at SaltwaterGardenings place a while back and her Sailfin looked so fat and happy, mine looks like its been living on prison rations.

I'm in Acworth if you want to either drop off a sample of the algae or mail it to me, I can check it under the scope.

 

[joeyprice]

I'm in Acworth if you want to either drop off a sample of the algae or mail it to me, I can check it under the scope.

Cool. How do I go about this?

 

[timeconsumer]

I sent you a PM with info