Can't get rid of these Diatoms - HELP!!!!!!

[jarian]

Hi,

I have a small 10 gallon nano tank. I have this brown/golden algae covering pretty much the entire bottom of the tank and alot of my rocks and corals. It's easy to blow off using a turkey baster but it quickly covers everything again. Under the microscope these buggers are round and are tan to gold in color. I'm pretty sure they are Diatoms. How do I get rid of them. I use RO/DI water. I use a phosphate remover (2 little fishes) and seachems purigen. I have done 2 water changes (approx 50% each) and will be performing a third tonight. This stuff wont go away!! Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[SnowManSnow]

You know Margarita snails did a REAL GOOD JOB on my diatoms

 

[Ben1]

If your sure its not dinoflagellates, and is a brown powdery algae then it is diatoms. They are caused by silicates and could be fed from you feeding the tank. In any case they are a normal part of every tank but the less silicate the slower they grow.

 

[Len]

Have you tried silica-removing media in your DI? Kent makes them (as do others) and it might help with diatoms.

 

[reefturkey]

How old is the tank?
I agree with the silica-removing media in the DI filter. Maybe your filters on the RO/DI unit need changing.

 

[jarian]

The tank is just under a year old. I get the RODI water from my company. I work at a Biotech/Pharmaceutical Corporation. They are actually performing a yearly preventative maintenance on the RODI system this week. I am going to obtain a silica test kit and test my tank water and RODI water used for water changes and evaporation top off to see if the levels are too high.

Any suggestions for which test kit to use?

 

[Sugar Magnolia]

salifert