PLEASE any help for my wild diatom outbreak

[phyber]

25 gallon
Instant Ocean salt
ZooMed 50/50 reef bulb, 15w. Runs ~10 hours a day
20 lbs argonite live sand
20 lbs live rock
3 red leg hermits
10 nessarius snails
2 astrea snails
2 clowns

my tank has been this way for the majority of it's set up (3 months and going). The brown doesn't go away even after turning a bit of the sand bed over...within a few hours you can see a blotch of brown coming back up.
Brown also extends to the glass, which i scrape off. Rocks were suffering from long, stringy brown growth, but the crabs seemed to trim it back to virtually non-existent, but ther are still splotches.

I used aged/treated tap water for the initial fill up. I know i'm told to use RO/DI water, but at the moment it's not an option.

I have yet to do a water change since setup. I top off with the same style water, but every time I measure the water levels (thinking about doing a change) they measure beautifully, and all specimens are doing fine.

What can I do?

 

[Heathd]

that sounds, and looks like, dinoflagelates

 

[FLESHY]

Start vacuuming your substrate. Stuff will only go away once all of the silicates in your system are gone.

I am willing to bet:

1. You didnt wash your sand.
2. You chose a poor sand, and it has silicates in it.
3. Your water has silicates in it.

Its most likely one of those three things.

These will go away on their own if you do proper maintenance. Astrea snails love the stuff.

 

[phyber]

Start vacuuming your substrate. Stuff will only go away once all of the silicates in your system are gone.

I am willing to bet:

1. You didnt wash your sand.
2. You chose a poor sand, and it has silicates in it.
3. Your water has silicates in it.

Its most likely one of those three things.

These will go away on their own if you do proper maintenance. Astrea snails love the stuff.

1. correct
2. i got the only brand live sand that PetSmart was carrying
3. probably so, it's just tap water.

my astreas wont touch the sand though. they stay on the rock or glass at all times

 

[TMartinez]

From my understanding having a diatom bloom is rather normal on new setups. i haven't had that issue thank god...

From what I know nutrients and ligth are the culptits. Starve the diatoms of both and it will clear itself up. Here is a link i found http://saltaquarium.about.com/cs/algaecontrol/a/aa071103.htm

 

[Comatose]

You should test your tap water for silica... if it's high you may want to consider an RODI system This could turn into a legitimate problem for your fish long term.

 

[TMartinez]

I have a 30g tank and I use RODI water... to me its just easier. I have 6-4.5 gallon containers that i fill up. I get 4 of them with premixed saltwater (1.15/gal) and two with rodi. (0.60/gal). I use two saltwater containers (9 gal) for a water change every week so I spend a little over 10 bucks a week in water... I mean I'll waste that buying lunch one day...

I buy the saltwater every two weeks and rodi like once a month... I say just start using RODI

 

[phyber]

thanks for the help guys

my local PetCo is the only salt water pet vendor, and they just have the buckets of premixed salt water, are you saying that's what i should start using?

 

[TMartinez]

Where at in NC are you? I have 3 places here that have a big tank they sell water out off. I've never used the premixed water from petco but i would assume since it's been in a container without oxygenation the ph could be a little funny.. but its prob better than tap

Ypu could always buy an RODI unit

 

[Otherone]

I have a similar issue - these things occur/bloom during high nitrate conditions like cycling. Usually when nitrates are 20 ppm or higher. Waterchanges will physically remove nitrate on a weekly temporary basis but time and good fishkeeping practices will eliminate it all togather on it's own as more friendly lookin' denitrifying colonies build within the tank. It can take a year or more depending on your practices for a new tank to fully mature. Granted this stuff is unsightly but realize it is also De-nitrfying your water and feeding your inverts.