Snails, Diatoms & Algae

[dxs2104]

Since I have had the tanks it seems I have had issues with (what I believe are) Diatoms. Just this past week I upgraded the lighting to 48W T5HO (Using half of a 4x 24W fixture) from a 20W T12 single tube fixture so hopefully that will help with the diatom issue. Is there anything I can do to help reduce the diatoms in the tank or is it an issue not worrying about? (Pic below of amazon swords)

The second question I had a stowaway on the Bacopa I had bought. I was wondering if anyone could ID this snail and if he's a good or bad snail?

Finally, I was inspecting the tank and saw that the drift would has some fuzzy type algae stuff on it, is this anything to worry about or just caused by a lack of light that hopefully now will be fixed with time?

Diatoms:

Snail (Black snail in the middle against the glass)

Fuzz

 

[Silent Night]

take a look here:

Algae control in the aquarium

hope it helps.

 

[Silent Night]

oh, and it looks like a regular pond snail:

Pond snail (Physa sp.)

usually come as eggs or small snails on your plants. easy to identify by their football shaped shell, sometimes having a spotted pattern. i leave all of mine tbh. they dont do any harm. good little cleaners, and they dont grow too big!

 

[HN1]

The diatoms usually will dissipate on their own over time.

Agree... pond snail. Good to have IMO. If you get a population explosion it tells you that you are over stocked or over feeding.

The DW fuzz looks like a normal fungus. It too will go away over time. You can vac it off and some fish and inverts may munch it a bit.

 

[logansmomma1228]

Pond snails are very annoying. They multiply like rabbits in your tank. I had a couple hitch hikers into my 29, I have now rid it of over 100 pond snails. And there are no fish in there, so I don't overfeed. I also do regular maintenance. Good thing I have a puffer!

 

[Silent Night]

i kind of like them, lol. even though i have about 100! as long as they leave my plants alone they can eat all the algae they like!

my clown loaches also enjoy the younger ones for an occasional snack.

 

[dxs2104]

Wow, thanks for all the responses.

I will just stick on schedule then and order some more plants and see how it goes.

 

[Silent Night]

happy tanking!