New Tank covered in diatoms

[Jonathan Chia]

1 month old Nuvo 20 with 20lbs of live sand and maybe 13 lbs of rock

Currently have 2 clowns, 1 orange spotted Blenny

My rocks are covered in brown stuff, which I'm assuming is diatoms..can you guys give any advice on how to make it look more appealing? It's hard to see from the pictures but my dry rock is essentially all brown now

I have 2 trochus to try and deal with the problem but it doesn't seem to be improving

Nitrates probably in the 20ppm, running purigen, carbon and GFO and a refugium

 

[Wlachnit]

Unfortunately, you gotta let it run its course. It may take 1-2 months before they go away.

 

[Coral reefer]

Yes, be patient. It's part of the preocess. It won't get purple before it gets brown, then green usually first. There are not shortcuts, nothing good happens fast in this hobby. Stay the course.

 

[sfsuphysics]

1 month old tank...yup, sounds about right.

This is why I am not a huge fan of those "quick cycle" products, while sure the bacteria loads might grow and stablize fast all the icky stuff that comes with and after will still take its time

If the brown is really bugging you, you mightbe able to get some off with a turkey baster or just point your powerhead at the rocks. but it will resettle until it reaches some level of stability

 

[rygh]

Yep, normal.

A couple more snails would not hurt.
But don't go overboard, because when it does go away, they will starve and die if you have too many.

 

[OnTheReef]

Put fine mesh filter socks in your returns, then scrub your rocks with a toothbrush. Once the water clears, remove and wash the filter socks.


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[hermit]

I generally see diatoms as a good sign of my tank heading towards maturity. This is the phase when excess silicates in the sand and on the rock get consumed. As pointed out by earlier comments, it gets brown first, green then and eventually purple. Be patient, you are in this game for the long run and this is a mile marker!

 

[Jonathan Chia]

Thanks everyone! I've added a few more snails and will likely scrub the rock then do a water change when I have some days off next week.

Glad its moving in the right direction though and I can't imagine what the wife is gonna think when the tank turns green, ha!

 

[Coral reefer]

I wouldn't bother scrubing. They will come back until they have performed their duty. Just let it run its course.

 

[rygh]

You can also vacuum it off the rock with a small siphon hose.

But I am with Mike - don't bother, part of the process.

 

[fishy408]

Yeah, diatoms are ugly. I hated it when my tank was new. Seems days went by so slow looking at the ugly brown rocks. Next will be green film algae, looks a little better but still ugly. Then the nice coraline algae next.

For me:
diatoms: about 1-2 months
green film algae: about 4 months and still going but slowly disappearing
coraline algae: just starting showing up last month, so hope it continues. It's all over the rocks but in tiny purple dots.

 

[Jonathan Chia]

Here's an update...not sure if the green is the beginning of film algae or maybe the start of corraline? (One can dream)

 

[Jonathan Chia]

Also is there a way to be sure this is diatoms vs cyano? Pics online look very similar and I'm thinking about doing a round of chemiclean to see if that helps

 

[Coral reefer]

Doesn't look like cyano. See advice above about taking it slow, not over reacting, and letting your newish tank settle in and do its thing. It still applies.

 

[Jonathan Chia]

Ya. That's the hardest thing, especially when the tank looks like this going on 2 months.

Corals are in great shape it seems though

Should I not even clean the glass? I've heard that extends the bloom?

 

[rygh]

Also is there a way to be sure this is diatoms vs cyano? Pics online look very similar and I'm thinking about doing a round of chemiclean to see if that helps

Relax. Looks like you are transitioning from Diatoms to film algae.

I am rebooting my big many year old reef tank due to Majanos, and it looks just like yours right now.