Reef nutrition

Diatom bloom

itsacrispy

itsacrispy

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Hey all,

My tank is currently undergoing a pretty intense diatom bloom. If it weren't for my cleanup crew, my sandbed and rocks would be completely covered in the stuff. Anyhow, I've been doing a bit of research on diatom blooms, and it appears there's still a lot of discussion regarding how it comes about, i.e. silicates in the water, changes in lighting, etc. However, I was wondering if Nitrates has anything to do with it. I'm testing 0 right now, but that may be because the diatoms are sucking it up.

Also, if this is supposed to be part of the natural cycling of the tank, how long does a diatom bloom normally last?

Thanks!
 
If your tank is new(er) diatoms come first, the rest follow. They can be a real PITA, but eventually settle down over the course of a month or two. They seem to have the ability to thrive in low nutrient environments like Cyanobacteria, so waterchanges don't do very much. Sit back, relax, and wait out the cycle, it's actually a good thing, it means your tank is jamming along on its cycle.
 
Aye, thanks tube. I just hope my clean up crew can keep up. I don't want it smothering my sandbed. It looks ugly too, but hey, it's part of the deal.
 
[quote author=tuberider link=topic=5666.msg71024#msg71024 date=1229905978]
If your tank is new(er) diatoms come first, the rest follow. They can be a real PITA, but eventually settle down over the course of a month or two. They seem to have the ability to thrive in low nutrient environments like Cyanobacteria, so waterchanges don't do very much. Sit back, relax, and wait out the cycle, it's actually a good thing, it means your tank is jamming along on its cycle.
[/quote]

But they have to have elevated silica levels to live in our systems :)

Not to mention they can be a very nutritious algae for most herbivores :) Ab's love it :D
 
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