Having Diatom problem, can Someone help me?

so, my tank is 33 gallons. I don't have a sump or refug but instead I have 2 filters one 40gal canister filter with all median taken out and one 30-60gal hang on back style filter, and skimmer. At first I was thinking that I was having nitrate and phosphate problems so I brought a water sample down the road to the LFS and they tested both and both are 0!! No phosphates and no nitrates! Why in the world do I have diatoms?? I was having green algae problems shortly after I upgraded my lighting fixture to 2 T5 bulb fixture from a single T8 fixture and about a week after that I saw green algea come out of no where. My system caught up with the green algea and there was roughly a 2 week period where I can no algea at all and then all these diatms came out of no where. I thought diatoms needed phosphates to live but my tank has 0! Is my system still getting use to the lighting upgrade? It has been about 2 months since I upgraded my lighting. Will the diatoms just disapear one day just like the green algea did? i was going to buy bottled water for water changes because I am using tap water but I don't have any phosphates or nitrates in my tap water.

 

do you use ro/di water filter it could be silica in the water di units can remove this eliment plus please don't get all fired up on me but don't trust your water test to the lfs do them yourself with fresh test kits. don't buy water either make your own with a good ro/di water filter

 

I do have my own test kits, I don't have one for phosphates though just ammonia, nitrite, pH and nitrate. I wanted to get my phosphates tested but they tested both phosphates and nitrates and the LFS I go to is extremely trustworthy! I am very very picky about who I go to and these guys are the best in the city. I don't have the money for a RO/DI unit.

 

Most test kits for po4 are useless..they can't read low enough to be accurate. Having some type of po4 remover in your filtration system is highly recommended. Silicates are everywhere, in everything.

 

Diatoms are not caused by nitrates/phosphates, they are caused by silicates. Have you stirred the sandbed? added anything new that is made of plastic? changed anything other than the lights?

 

plus 1 i believe the problem is in the water you are using, maybe someone will buy you a ro/di unit for christmas there not as much as they use to be, i hope everything clears up

 

I just removed some of my substrate and mixed in some crushed coral in with my black sand. It looks like it's salt and pepper, really cool looking But anyway, I was having diatom issued even before I stirded up the sandbed.

 

h and I do have a phosphate remover in my filter and it is doing absolutely nothing!

 

Just be patient. Silicates+light=diatoms! You can do a 3-4 day black out, while continuing with the po4 remover. This will help a lot! No it wont hurt anything unless your keeping sps. What po4 remover are you using? Silicates will leach from everything. There's not much we can do about it.

 

Use some Aluminum Oxide to get rid of silicates.