Diatom Blooms

[qhrisnd]

We've got algae blooms (diatom, brown in color) on the sides and front wall of our tank, and we can't get it off.

Anyone have a tip or trick in using any sort of chemical, a natural method, or a way to scrape it off?

The tank is a 29 gal acrylic.

Also, how can we prevent algae blooms?

Thanks in advance!

 

[ccCapt]

How long has the tank been set up? Diatoms are usually part of a young tank maturing process. As far as scraping it off....diatoms are usually like a powder in the water. If it's something that needs to be scraped off, it may not be diatoms.
As far as preventing algae blooms, keep the nutrient levels low in the tank (no over feeding) and make sure your lights are in the proper color spectrum.

 

[flamingonhot]

If it's new than all you have to do it wipe the really bad and noticable parts off and let it go through the cycle. Eventually it resources will get exhausted and it'll stop and get replaced by some other algae in the future.

 

[qhrisnd]

We've had this tank set up for almost 4 months now. The algae is a brownish in color, and will not just wipe off from the sides of the fish tank. I literally have to scrape with my finger nail to get it off the acrylic.