The Green is Slowly Replacing the Brown...

[Osage_Winter]

I have been running Seachem's PhosGuard for a good deal of time now, which I hoped would help with the ongoing diatom problem in my tank (which refuses to go away) plus have added a 100ml bag of Purigen to my AquaClear 110, and while I have not really noticed any new diatoms pop up anywhere since adding the PhosGuard, amazingly, it seems green algae of some kind is beginning to rise up and take the place of the brown diatoms...

On the sails of my "pirate shipwreck" ornament -- the one place the diatoms have attacked aggressively moreso than any other spot in the tank -- it seems there are now dark green spots growing between the brown ones, as well as on some other locations, suggesting to me that perhaps the green algae is beginning to take over as I was told may happen. Is this normal in the cycle of diatoms? If this is green algae, what can I do? The tank doesn't really see any daylight, so I'm not sure where they could be coming from unless it's a natural progression between the algae types...

Any insight would be appreciated, as always. Please let me know if pics are necessary.

 

[cinnamaldehyde]

Well I don't know how helpful this is because I can't really answer your questions about the algae & diatoms... but I get them too in my tank.

I just take the rocks & fake plants out, scrub 'em off in dechlorinated water & everything looks as good as new! They build up again, but other than that everything is good in that tank, so I don't really worry. Just a little scrubbing every now and then

 

[melosu58]

Bumping is against site rules. Please refrain from this.

 

[Osage_Winter]

Well I don't know how helpful this is because I can't really answer your questions about the algae & diatoms... but I get them too in my tank.

I just take the rocks & fake plants out, scrub 'em off in dechlorinated water & everything looks as good as new! They build up again, but other than that everything is good in that tank, so I don't really worry. Just a little scrubbing every now and then

Thank you for the quick response, Cinna...much appreciated.

Have you experienced the overgrow of green algae over the brown though, as I have described? I have been told that this is the normal cycle and stage -- that the green will eventually outconsume the brown -- but I wanted to know if anyone else had any input on this.

I hear what you're saying about the scrubbing and removing the ornaments, but I've done that and I can honestly say this is NOT fun and is way too backbreaking of work; I am hoping the Seachem PhosGuard I've dropped in the tank is assisting with getting rid of the silicates at least, which are supposedly feeding the diatoms...