Am i wrong about diatoms

well i get home from work and my rocks are covered in a brown powder that i could turkey baste off so it had to be diatoms well my tank is in the middle of a cycle i thought diatoms came till after the cycle

my reading are
ammonia 4.0 nitrites 1-2.0 nitrates about 20 ppm
am i wrong about diatom blooms or can they happen before the end of a cycle ik its towards the end due to the high spikes

 

If you are reading nitrates the tank is partially cycled.Your spikes have already reached their peak and are declining except Nitrates of course.Diatoms can appear before or after these peaks sometimes even right through them depending on the ammonia levels being introduced.

 

So no need for concern just keep an eye on it and do a WC if needed right

 

Not at all they are just consuming slicates.Once they are gone the diatoms will disappear. Once your ammonia and nitrites are gone do your WC.

 

agree. I wouldn't touch anything right now. Things are going as they should.

 

Last time i cycled, i waited about two weeks After the cycle and then manually cleaned all the diatoms off since i dont run a cuc.