30 Gallon Algae problems

[Lainey183]

Hello all, Its been a while!!

I have a 30 gallon cycled tank. Its been set up for about a year.

PH: 7.8
Amm. : 0
Trite: 0
Trate: 5-10

I have 4 nerite snails and a Blackmoor Goldfish.

As for plants I have Amazon Swords, Wysteria, Water Onion, and some sort of fern. I also have some drift wood.

I treat with Nourish 1 cap full twice a week.

DIY LED Light system runs for 10 hrs. a day.

I had been experiencing problems with brown algae on my live plants only. Since beginning parasite treatment using Tetra Parasite Guard I now seem to have a diatom outbreak starting. I am confused as to what I am doing wrong? Does anyone have any advice?

 

[Rivercats]

Running your lights less will help alittle maybe 6-8 hours a day. With the tank being that old and the fact its started after your treatment my guess is there is some silicates in the meds or it's altering the water chemistry to where diatoms can flourish. Regardless of the diatoms you will have to finish your treatment then when it's done I'd do some pretty big back to back 50% WC's for 2-3 days and see if they start slowly subsiding. If you don't have a planted tank then you could add some type of phosphate remover to your filter as phosphate removers also remove silicates from the water.

 

[Lainey183]

Thank You for your response. I will try running the lights less and see if that helps. Does it matter which 6 hours of the day I run them? I tend to run them later because I like the tank lit up in the evening when I can enjoy it.

I am on the last day of treatment, so tomorrow I can do a large water change and see if that helps.

I do have live plants, so I don't think I will be able to add the phosphate stuff.

Thank you!!

 

[Rivercats]

Thank You for your response. I will try running the lights less and see if that helps. Does it matter which 6 hours of the day I run them? I tend to run them later because I like the tank lit up in the evening when I can enjoy it.

I am on the last day of treatment, so tomorrow I can do a large water change and see if that helps.

I do have live plants, so I don't think I will be able to add the phosphate stuff.

Thank you!!

You can run them any time you want, or more like when you can enjoy the tank the most

 

[Lainey183]

Ok, I have already adjusted the timer! I will let you know how it goes!

Thanks!