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Diatom observation - disappear at night?


NanoRox

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anyone else notice diatoms have a tendency to disappear at night?  I am waiting out /battling some currently and notice that shortly after the lights go out, the diatoms disappear.  once the lights start ramping up, so do the diatoms.  Does this happen for everyone?  I have read a lot of threads from folks trying to decide if they have diatoms or cyano.  seems this would be one sure way to determine that.  

 

of course this does not explain why they seem to be doing that but there you are.  

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How old is this tank?  Diatoms are photosynthetic so it makes sense that they may become more prevalent during the light cycle.  However, TBH, I can't remember seeing diatoms receding at night and coming back during the day.  I wonder if it's possible that this could even be dinos.

 

If it's a new tank, I'd suspect diatoms.  If it's an older tank, it could be dinos.  Both are tan/golden/brownish in color.  However , dinos are usually more snot like in consistency, and (as they get more pronounced) can often contain strings which contain gas bubbles.

 

Cyano is usually reddish in color.  You might have to look at it when the tank lights are out (under the room lights, or a flashlight), as reef lighting might make the color harder to identify.

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12 minutes ago, Clown79 said:

When I had diatoms it appeared to disappear overnight and the longer the lights were on the worse it got.

Makes sense.  It's been awhile since I've had the pleasure of having diatoms.  That, or my memory isn't what it used to be.  ;). Unfortunately I've battled dinos a couple of years ago, and that's been burned into my mind. :lol:

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9 minutes ago, seabass said:

Makes sense.  It's been awhile since I've had the pleasure of having diatoms.  That, or my memory isn't what it used to be.  ;). Unfortunately I've battled dinos a couple of years ago, and that's been burned into my mind. :lol:

I often wondered if I simply couldn't see the algae because the lights were off.?

 

I also questioned dino's and golden cyano.

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Yeah I have considered it being dino's.  Short of getting a cheap microscope (which I may), I guess there is no other way to be 100% sure.  I have noticed the following though which makes me guess diatoms:

1. tank is 2 months old

2. it is not slimy in the sense it is creating mats of growth on the sand bed

3. the sand bed can be blown off with a syringe

4. no slimy strings or bubbles on the algae.  I let it grow out just to see if that would happen. 

5. have not found any dead snails.  in fact they are breeding and I have more snails than I know what to do with

 

I just installed an RO/DI last night so I am switching my ATO water and my salt water to that from store bought distilled.  I suppose I should have tested the distilled for PO4 and silicates but never did.  My tank is showing zero silicates and basically zero phosphates on my salifert test kits.  my guess is there is a possibility of the silicate and PO4 being used up by the diatoms so quickly they are not showing up in my tests.  Anyway, at this point I am going to go with the RODI water and continue my regular maintenance.  and see how it goes. 

 

 

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31 minutes ago, Duane Clark said:

I suppose I should have tested the distilled for PO4 and silicates but never did.

Distilled should be pure.  I doubt that was a source for either.  But your pocketbook will appreciate the switch to RO/DI.

 

If it is diatoms (and that seems to make the most sense), then the diatoms should exhaust themselves and go away.

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25 minutes ago, seabass said:

Distilled should be pure.  I doubt that was a source for either.  But your pocketbook will appreciate the switch to RO/DI

I hope so.  was also very inconvenient going to the store to get water every week.  it is sloooooow  though. 

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Distilled is as pure as ro/di, doubt it was the source.

Most likely sand is the source.

 

If I hadn't upgraded my tank with a total of 4 tanks, I'd still use distilled. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Just FYI I got a TDS meter...my home water is 184.  the Walmart distilled was 2 and my RO/DI is also 2.  so, really the distilled is fine...which I already knew I guess. ;)

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1 hour ago, seabass said:

You should change out your DI resin if the TDS of the output is 2.

It’s brand new.  I just installed the unit.  

 

EDIT...this bothered me so I got  a clean glass container and poured the ro water and tested.  came out 0.  I had used a plastic measuring cup I use for water changes so it must have salt etc in it despite thinking I had cleaned it thoroughly.   

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  • 1 year later...

Because diatoms are light-dependent (at least as observed by turbidity data from esturies), most of them will die off without adequate light. Most species I grow in my lab do better in attenauted continuous 24Day:24dark cycles (8000 LUX) unless there is a nutrient limiting gradient (Nitrogen, trace metals, SiOx or vitamins), or, as it has recently been observed, they can easily become preyed upon by golden algae-chrysophytes that can switch from photosynthesis to predation in waters lacking nutrients, or in conditions of heightened salinity. Some dinoflagellates are also predators of diatoms. Whatever kills them, it seems to me the main reason is lack of light or too much light (photoperiodism; LUX more than 100,000). In general they are very sensitive to changes in any environmental conditions (hence their use as bioindicators of pollution in rivers and lake water quality assessments) and even when they 'bloom', there is a theory that they may have some kind of viral 'cross-talk' whereby allowing infection (since virus are mostly species specific) controls numbers. Whatever it is that is happening in your tank, diatoms are by nature very transcient in most home systems unless you feed them adequate SiOx and limiting nutrients such as trace iron. Your real nuissance will  have to be the cyanobacteria and perhpas the dinoflagellates that can easily thrive and outcompete when other phytoplankton cannot.

 

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