How much do you know?

[mynd]

Hello there,

Interesting question that I have here for ya's.

If you get a diatom bloom in your tank followed by a brown coating of algae on your rock and especially on the sand, and you are able to remove all nitrates, nitrites, ammonia, phosphates and silicates "WILL THE ALGAE JUST DISAPPEAR?"

Will it dissolve over time and go back into the water as a phosphate or silicate, to only be removed by your phosguard or chemi-pure elite?

What do you think?

 

[Subliminal]

I thought you always got the diatom bloom, and it just goes away. At least that's what happened in both of the tanks I set up.

 

[Phyl]

My diatom bloom (oh so long ago) just disappeared as fast as it came on. Remove the source and the problem goes away.

 

[emanaresi]

Yeah, it does just go away, but the actual diatoms or algae must introduce some waste back into the water when it dies or breaks down. It would then be removed by your filtration media or protien skimmer. it can't just dissappear, is that what you are getting at?

 

[boozeman]

algae spores are continualy introduced into the tank from the air, from that nice new fish/invertebrate you just got, and even from the salt you use to make your next water change.

 

[mynd]

I think that everyone has a point. However, emanaresi has gotten a little closer to the laymen answer. It should dissolve and enter the water as either nitrates or phosphates / silicates, only to be removed by natural or added options. In regards to algae spored being introduced into the tank. I cannot comment on this. However, even if they are there should not be any algae growth in your tank if your parameters are ALL in check.

I appreciate all the responses I got. I was just kinda hoping that someone had researched this whole process in the past and could specifically give an answer as to exactly what happens. Carlo you out there.. LOL

Thanks everyone for responding..

 

[mladencovic]

Hello there,

Interesting question that I have here for ya's.

If you get a diatom bloom in your tank followed by a brown coating of algae on your rock and especially on the sand, and you are able to remove all nitrates, nitrites, ammonia, phosphates and silicates "WILL THE ALGAE JUST DISAPPEAR?"

Will it dissolve over time and go back into the water as a phosphate or silicate, to only be removed by your phosguard or chemi-pure elite?

What do you think?

Strictly speaking, the brown stuff on your rocks and sand is almost certainly not algae but cyanobacterias, in which case they will forever be in your tank. However, with reduced nitrates, phosphates and good water flow they can be controlled and put in check. It would be best if you can remove brown patches from the rocks and sand by yourself (you will export precisely those nutrients that were utilised by the cyanobacterias). Sometimes good cleaning crew, while not eating cyanobacterias per-se, will disrupt them sufficiently to free your rocks and sand of them.

Now, you have to understand something - as long as you have anything living in your tank, you will never be able to completely remove all of the ammonia, nitrites and nitrates. They will always be present in certain amounts in your tank and if the tank has a well established nitrogen cycle, they will be utilised ("eaten") and transformed from one into the other by one some form of organism in the nitrogen cycle. What you could do, is to affect this cycle in certain ways so that you can reduce the favorable elements needed by the cyanobacterias. You can skim aggressively which will reduce the proteins and oils in the water that break into ammonia and further down the road into the nitrates, therefore having less of them. Or you can introduce macrolagae to scrub nitrates and other trace elements used by cyanos. Or you can create unfriendly environment for cyanos by having high water movements and efficient cleaning crews that will disturb the surfaces on which cyanos would like to grow.

Elimination of phosphates is a slightly different story. While nitrogen cycle has ample source of nitrogen from the atmosphere, phosphates are in a finite quantity in your tank and are introduced by:
a) initial live rock
b) water
c) salt mixes
d) feeding of your lifestock.
e) death and decomposition of your livestock.
As you can see, all of these sources are controllable: cured rock, RO/DI water, good quality salt mix, careful and "healthy" food, and removal of dead animals and plants. Once phosphates are brought into check, they can be kept there easily.

So, to answer your question, if you do not disturb their environment, they WILL NOT DISSAPEAR. They were the first living organisms formed on this planet, and are here to stay . By skimming, changing water, scrubbing phosphates and nitrates, controling the feeding, adjusting the flows, scrubbing the rocks and disturbing the sand, you DO DISTURB their environment and therefore impede their growth.

I am also curious why do you think you had a diatom bloom at the beginning? The conditions in the new tank are far more favorable for the bacterial blooms then for diatoms. Have you checked your water for elevated levels of silicates?