Worried....

[NanoReefer1]

Just tonight I was sleeping on the couch by my aquarium when my fiancee sprayed the sink sprayer at me and when I looked at the tank the lighting had like 2-3 drops on it the front of the tank had 2-3 drops on it, and the upper wall behind the tank was damp.

Will even 10 drops of tap water do anything to my tank????

I have super hard water that does have chlorine in it.

Man I hope not...

Earlier today the parameters were at
pH 8
Ammonia 0
Nitrate 0
Nitrite 0
Temp 81(now 80 because lights off)
Salinity 1.027

Could it cause a cycle to recur?
Right now currently I am going through a MAJOR diatom growth ALL OVER the tank hoping it would be gone soon...

[icemark]

You could pour a cup of tap water in, and it wouldn't change anything. No worries

[NanoReefer1]

I have heard so many bad things about how tapwater can cause different algaes to grow, and stuff.... practically horror stories is that when they start with tap water?

[weez1959]

I wouldn't worry about a few drops of tap water even if it is more, I highly doubt anything, even minor will occur. As for your diatoms, they wil die down soon, you know what they say "patience is a virtue" although it's not one of mine!

[NanoReefer1]

Yea... If it werent so ugly I would have patience but man that tank is like "Attack of the swarming diatoms" its freaky all the rocks are almost yellow to gold looking it looks hideous.

[NanoReefer1]

It looks like gold member did his bidding in it... if you catch my drift

[My2heartboys]

I don't know about using tap water. I do know the chlorine in it could cause problems with the inverts. Just to be on the safe side, I would run some fresh carbon.

Anne

[NanoReefer1]

Even in as small as a few drops? Less than say 1/100 of a glass maybe less... Idk anyone else have an opinion??

[weez1959]

I still think it's nothing to worry about, I rinse my mysis in tap water everyday and I've never seen anything go wrong!
You're worrying for nothing

[charlie]

Do a water change, run some carbon, and keep an eye on things. As for the diatoms, if I remember correctly, this thing hasn't been set up that long, so you are going thru part of a cycle, keep your water parameters good, keep up on your water changes, they will eventually go away. JMHO

PATIENCE IS IMPORTANT HERE!!!!!!!

[kevinpo]

That small amount of water will have no effect at all.

Regards,
Kevin

[Ninong]

Don't worry about a few drops of tapwater; however, there are a few points you should mention to your fiancee. Never use Windex (or anything containing ammonia) on the tank or near the tank, especially if it's in a spray dispenser. In fact, never use any sort of aerosol cleaners anywhere near your aquarium. Since it's a small aquarium and might be placed on "furniture," be careful that no one uses any sort of spray furniture polish or spray (aerosol) cleaners anywhere near your aquarium. Tiny droplets of cleaner/polish could get onto the water's surface and cause serious problems.

Never paint anything near your aquarium -- the fumes from the paint could be absorbed through the surface of the water. Fumes can also be absorbed by a skimmer, should you have one.

Never, ever spray for pests with any pesticide anywhere near your aquarium.

Never, ever let any little kids anywhere near your aquarium if they have pennies in their hands and a tendency to want to get lucky by tossing one in your tank.

Never, ever let little kids (or big kids) stick their hands in your aquarium if they just got finished washing their hands with soap. This is because they might not have completely rinsed off all of the soap. After washing your hands with soap (or anything similar), you have to rinse them repeatedly (like three times as long as usual) to make sure you remove absolutely all residue.

[NanoReefer1]

Yea and on that note I just caught my 20month old post sticking his hands into my aquarium.... Its the first time.... It WILL be the last.

I was upset, and taught him that we dont stick out hands into the tank.

I think it was a little while before he last had washed or sanitized his hands.... God I only hope


Man crazy stupid eventful crap I hate thinking my tank is going to pieces but the last 48hrs have been nuts.

Not to mention my WHOLE tank EVERYTHING is Gold brown even the black sand which is NUTS.

[Ninong]

A diatom bloom is a normal part of new-tank cycling. It should be gone in 10 days to two weeks once it uses up most of the silicate.

[NanoReefer1]

A diatom bloom is a normal part of new-tank cycling. It should be gone in 10 days to two weeks once it uses up most of the silicate.

How bad could it get inside of the tank? Because currently it is all over my pumps, and all over the hob filter (not inside just the dangle hanging down). Could in a couple of weeks it look like dirt? lol... man this is some fun stuff. What is the worst Diatom bloom you have seen in the past?


Also should I do a 15-20% change of the water in two days or wait until the cycle has completed? Heard mixed opinions from both sides.

[Ninong]

How bad could it get inside of the tank?

Diatoms are everywhere!

Two days ago I had to use my imagination to be able to detect just a very slight tan dusting of diatoms in a few spots on the sand bed. Well, I don't have to use my imagination anymore!!!



View from left side of the tank on 7/26/03.





View from left side of tank on 7/28/03. Everything -- sand, live rock, tank glass -- is turning brown with diatoms! Check out the little rectangular indentation in the sand bed. That's where I held the lux meter down to take a reading of the light intensity at the left front corner of the tank.




Close-up of sand bed and lower front glass of tank.

Because currently it is all over my pumps, and all over the hob filter (not inside just the dangle hanging down). Could in a couple of weeks it look like dirt? lol... man this is some fun stuff. What is the worst Diatom bloom you have seen in the past?

Those are photos of my 120-gal tank during initial cycling. The diatom bloom cleared up all by itself in less than two weeks. You need to keep the glass clean so that you can see what's going on inside the tank and because if you let it go more than say three days, it will be that much harder to clean.

Also should I do a 15-20% change of the water in two days or wait until the cycle has completed? Heard mixed opinions from both sides.

That really depends on what your ammonia, nitrite and nitrate readings have been. If you haven't been testing at all, then just wait about three weeks after the day the tank was started up to do your first water change (about 30% or so would work). After than, you could do 15% water changes every two or three weeks if that's what you plan to do. Smaller tanks usually require more frequent water changes.

[NanoReefer1]

HOLY COW man my tank isnt that bad... maybe my water flow has something to do with that since my turnover is 96 an hour... hope I wont have to deal with it getting on the glass sounds like a mess...

[Ninong]

HOLY COW man my tank isnt that bad...

The purpose of the photos was to illustrate the progress of the diatom bloom. In the first photo, you can see a very list dusting of diatoms on the sandbed and at the bottom of the glass just above the sandbed. The second and third photos were taken only 48 hours later, just before I cleaned the glass.

I found it necessary to clean the glass at least every other day during the 12 days of so that the diatom bloom was taking its normal course. I did not, of course, disturb the sandbed.

This is a perfectly normal and healthy part of the cycling of a new aquarium. If it has not dissipated on its own within three weeks, then something is wrong.

[agent-o2]

This is a perfectly normal and healthy part of the cycling of a new aquarium. If it has not dissipated on its own within three weeks, then something is wrong.

If it does take longer what could possible problems be?

[Ninong]

If it does take longer what could possible problems be?

If it takes longer, then you need to check your source water (the freshwater you use to make up saltwater). That would be the place to start. Diatoms are limited by available silicate. They require silicate to build their cell walls.

A diatom bloom is normal during cycling but it shouldn't last more than one to three weeks at the most. In my case, it lasted less than two weeks. Usually it is followed by nuisance hair algae and cyanobacteria. In my case, I had no hair algae at all and very little cyanobacteria. The cyanobacteria was under control in no time at all -- a few days at the most.

If you can get control of your water parameters, you can control all of the various nuisance problems: diatoms, hair algae, cyanobacteria. You want to get your nitrate, phosphate and silicate down. You can use any of the various iron oxide based sponge products in a mesh bag (or canister) to fight phosphate and silicate. You can also try using one of those poly-filter pads. And GAC (granular activated carbon), too. A good protein skimmer is your best tool for getting your water under control. And it goes without saying that you need to use R.O./D.I. water to make your saltwater or you need to purchase R.O. water or distilled water from the supermarket. While it is true that tapwater might work in some locations, it's risky, to say the least.