Where do DIATOMs come from?

[gort]

I have a tank with base rock only. No live rock added to the tank. Sand is not live sand. I did have a piece of live rock in the tank for about 2 weeks but i took it out.

No life in the tank , no coral or fish yet. Been running for several months all buy itself.

So how would i have a diatom bloom i think i am seeing that. Seen it before and this looks the same.

I have been adding bacteria into the tank. I think that seachem stuff so you wont have new tank syndrome.

How would the diatoms show up?

 

[j_b_]

Diatom growth in new tanks is perfectly normal and generally expected in both SW and FW. It'll really take off, if you've got high silicate levels, low pH and light in the yellow/red range (570 - 750nm). Any one of those variables and you've got an environment for it. Silicates are present in many of the synthetic salt mixes we use in our tanks, so that's probably where it's coming from, or the sand you utilized. Just bear with it, it usually goes away on it's own a couple weeks after it shows up.