Diatom problem, suggestions, a little help please

[ken123]

Tank has been up for 2 years 3 months. Don't have any fish right now, just snails and a serpent star. Been doing monthly water changes, not quite 20%. Clean the skimmer twice a week. About a year ago, began getting baby brittle stars mostly in the sump. Had a ton of them. Then a few months ago, the brittle stars just disappeared. Now I'm getting Spirorbid Worms on the rock & glass. For coral's, have a Frogspawn which is doing well and some zoas which seem to be disappearing. Have a sump, no fuge right now. Nothing has changed at all in the tank. Since I have no fish right now, not much of a bio load. Now the sand is getting a dirty brown look to it, must be diatom's. Since nothing has changed and I've been doing the same thing day after day, why could this be happening? Replaced both florescent bulbs and one ballast back in October. The other ballast went last week and I'm waiting for a new one to arrive. Seems like after the ballast went the diatom's started, coincident?

Anyway, I will do some more water changes and I started up the phosban reactor today. Will clean the skimmer daily. Anything else I can do? I was going to order some fish online but should I wait for this problem to be over with before I get some fish?

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

baby brittle stars mostly in the sump. Had a ton of them. Then a few months ago, the brittle stars just disappeared.

I've had them swarm and crash. I'd guess it's a natural cycle.

Do you know that the brown on the sand is not cyano or dinos?

Do you use RO/DI water? Have you checked it recently?

[erbio]

astrea, nerite or cerith snails for the rocks

and sand sifting stars for the top of the sand.

You cannot get rid of the diatoms until they use up the nutrients in the water but you could use the above critters to keep your sand and rock appealing.

:rollface:

[ken123]

Not 100% sure what it is, could be cyano or dinos. It's brown and mostly on the sand. Not sure how to tell the difference. Here's a pic. Going to get more snails. I get my RO/DI water from my lfs. Been getting it there from day one.

Water parameters with <b>test strips</b> (if I'm reading this right)...
Nitrates = 10 ppm
Nitrites = .25ppm
Hardness = 425ppm
Alkalinity = 180ppm
PH = 8.2
Ammonia = .25

Salinity = 1.025
Phosphate = 0

Retesting the water with SeaChem test kit now.

http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a156/ken_nj/dirtylookingsand.jpg

[erbio]

Do what i suggested, these are diatoms, just mixed into the sand.

Also, test strips are not very reliable.

[ken123]

Retested with Seachem...

Nitrate = 2ppm
Nitrite = .1
PH = 8.2
Ammonia = .01
Alkalinity = 3.5 meq/L

[ken123]

I happen to have both test strips and the Seachem kits so I tested with both. Nitrates seem to be high so I guess water changes are due to cut down on the Nitrates, at least to help get the nutrient's lower? I will be getting more Nerite and Cerith snails. Don't like Astrea's, they keep falling on their sides and dying if I don't right them, pita.

Would it be harmful to add any new fish or should I wait until this clears up?