i got these diatoms... and dunno what to do..

[Wind]

is it really that my tank is new?.. i want to ask about diatoms.. or is it cuz of the type of light.

on a a 10 gallon that's been about 1 year or way longer is lit w/ pc, and diatoms aren't present

on my new 90, about 2 months or so, is populated w/ diatom, and cloudy water at times (even after a water change, next day it gets cloudy) .. lit w/ 2-150 hqi

i use NSW for both tanks, but just the new tank have been having diatom blooms like crazy, its yellow.. i have used tap to establish, but recently using those 50 cent a gallon ro water..

should i leave lights off? or on so it uses all the silicate up and die? or do i keep doing water changes??? w/ ro water

[ghansen]

I would do several things:

1. You don't need to keep your lights off, just turn them off for more time during the day. Maybe down to 4 hours or so.

2. Yes you want to continue doing regular water changes with RO/DI water. I would do 1 25% change a week for about 4-6 weeks.

3. What type of filtratation do you have?

4. Do you have incedental sunlight hitting your tank?

[Wind]

i have a skimmer, euroreef es5-3... and rocks, i dont have any sunlight

the thing is at night, when actinics are on, and what not, the tank isn't that ugly in diatom, whenever i turn on MH, within an hour or so, the tank turns into brown, on the rocks and stuffs...

i have heard lots of ideas ... some people told me to just leave and don't do water changes till later.. and what not..

i'm planning to get a ro/di unit, but i dunno which one..

[Reefland]

I would pass it as new tank syndrome. Keep up with your water changes, make sure your skimmer continues to "rock" and it should start to go away in due time.

Regards,
Scott Z.

[Wind]

woo hoo.. good assurance.. :P

ya i do about 15-20%.. i guess i'll do more frequent, weekly about 10-15% .. and add more sand, and get the dodo detrius away. and establish more stuff,

[Ninong]

Wind,

My diatom experience is detailed with before and after pictures on pages 17 and 18 of my tank setup thread: Pictures of Ninong's tank in progress. Scroll down until you get to the 11 p.m., July 28th. Update.