I'm having a problem with diatoms in my freshwater tank (20 gal). I've done research online but I seem to get conflicting info about diatoms.
My tank is established and about 6-months old. It's a planted tank with 4 fish (mollies and dwarf gourami). I have always cleaned my tank weekly with a 20-30% water change. For the past month or so, the brown algae comes back a couple days after my cleaning. I have white gravel, so I notice it easily. Each week after my cleaning, I add a dose of API Stress Zyme and API Leaf Zone. I also dose with Flourish Excel every other day for the plants. I also use root tabs monthly.
Since I've had the diatom problem, I've added a bag of phosguard to my filter media and I didn't notice any difference. I've also added air stones to the tank after reading that perhaps I do not have enough water movement.
I've read that too much lighting can cause a diatom problem but I've also read that not enough lighting could be the problem. My tank lights are on a automatic timer and set to be on for 10 hours a day. Is this my problem?
Any suggestions would be appreciated, thank you!
My tank is established and about 6-months old. It's a planted tank with 4 fish (mollies and dwarf gourami). I have always cleaned my tank weekly with a 20-30% water change. For the past month or so, the brown algae comes back a couple days after my cleaning. I have white gravel, so I notice it easily. Each week after my cleaning, I add a dose of API Stress Zyme and API Leaf Zone. I also dose with Flourish Excel every other day for the plants. I also use root tabs monthly.
Since I've had the diatom problem, I've added a bag of phosguard to my filter media and I didn't notice any difference. I've also added air stones to the tank after reading that perhaps I do not have enough water movement.
I've read that too much lighting can cause a diatom problem but I've also read that not enough lighting could be the problem. My tank lights are on a automatic timer and set to be on for 10 hours a day. Is this my problem?
Any suggestions would be appreciated, thank you!
