Diatom Bloom

[fish frenzy]

I was wondering if anyone uses epsom salt to raise magnesium. I mixed some in RODI water and added it to my tank. A couple of days later I have a diatom bloom. The tank is about 2 years old.

Coincidentally, around the same time I had a piece of Live Rock in a bucket trying to nurse back an anemone. Unfortunately the anemone didn't make it, so I soaked the lived rock in a clean bucket of saltwater with some Seachem Prime in it overnight before returning it to the tank. The live rock was out of water for about 10 minutes or so.

The RODI membranes are about a year old, and the filters are due for replacements in another couple of months. I also just replenished the DI resin a week ago. Does anyone think either one of these scenarios could cause a diatom bloom?

I was also thinking of picking up a silicate test kit, can anyone recommend one?

Thanks!

 

[ReefBum]

Diatoms feed mainly off of silicates so they can bloom if the RODI cartridge that removes silicates is expired.

 

[theMeat]

The membrane can last for years if the filters are changed regularly, and matched with the right size flow restrictor. Test your water with a tds meter, then you'r not guessing. I have one, where are you?

 

[fish frenzy]

The membrane can last for years if the filters are changed regularly, and matched with the right size flow restrictor. Test your water with a tds meter, then you'r not guessing. I have one, where are you?

Thanks I do have a TDS meter and it reads zero. I also tested the RODI water with a Hana low range tester and it tested zero as well.

I also change the filters once a year, they are due for a change in another month. I usually due monthly water changes of about 40 gallons on a 180g tank.

 

[john70]

I think either the Epsom salt contains silicate or the expired rodi cartridge let silicate go through and feed the diatoms algae! I got blue slime out breaking last week,one of the reason was the tds meter readed 9ppm from my rodi filter! So the rodi filter let phosphate go through to my system to feed the cyano bacteria!

 

[theMeat]

9ppm isn't that bad. Should be corrected, but likely not doing much to cause a bloom.