# Has anyone here had Diatom?



## SpAzZy (Mar 30, 2004)

diatom from their silica sand?


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## elTwitcho (Jun 22, 2004)

Nope, my sillica sand is a-ok.

What's a diatom?


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## CHOMP (Nov 6, 2004)

Diatoms are unicellular algae. The cell walls of these organisms are made of silica.


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## elTwitcho (Jun 22, 2004)

Sillicon based life forms? Woooaaaaaah!!!

I actually remember reading about this now that I look back. I don't believe it's as much of an issue as it is often made out to be as sillica sand is very commonly used in alot of aquariums and you don't hear about diatoms all that often.


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## elTwitcho (Jun 22, 2004)

Here's a link with more info than you could possibly need.

http://www.skepticalaquarist.com/docs/algae/diatoms.shtml

Basically, it says they're caused by the same thing most algae is caused by, improper lighting conditions, and an abundance of Dissolved Organic Compounds. Sounds like regular plain jane brown algae to me, which as it turns out I get a little of on my aquarium glass but I scrub the glass once every thirty days and you never really see it. I don't have anymore of it in my sillica substrate tank than I do in my gravel tanks.


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## SpAzZy (Mar 30, 2004)

thanks a lot guys. another quick question, how often do you stir up your sand? i figured i'd do it every other water change or so, but does it dust up your water? i never had sand in any of my tanks and have only read about it.


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## elTwitcho (Jun 22, 2004)

I do it usually every two weeks. I'm not sure it really does anything but I'm not interested in taking the chance to avoid 2 minutes of work.

I washed my sand extremely well and not an iota of dust floats around the tank when I stirred up the tank. This just reinforces what I've always said, the single most important element in keeping a successful sand tank is to very thoroughly wash the sand before hand.


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