Getting rid of Diatoms?

[Psylk87]

Hey,

I am having a fight with diatoms in my 10 gallon. The tank is relatively new so I am guessing that si why but I am worried about my plants especially my water sprite and wisteria. The leaves are harder to wipe off since they are so spindly. I do water changed every Sunday. I dont think I am overfeeding. The tetras get just a tiny pinch of flakes and my betta eats pelts but i drop in one at a time till he ingores one. I did buy a mystery snail but I have read mixed reviews on rather or not they will eat diatoms.

Any suggestion on how to get rid of them would be great.

 

[dmolavi]

Check your phosphates, make sure they are at or close to 0. Limit the lighting on the tank, too. I dialed mine down to 6hrs a day. That combined with PhosGuard dropped my phosphates to nearly 0. I've heard (my post: http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forum...to-normal-how-to-get-rid-of-algae-245361.html) that nerite snails eat diatomes.

 

[HandyAndy]

They won't hurt anything and are perfectly normal in a new tank. They will go away eventually. A couple oto's couldn't hurt either, they're cool to watch! The silica in your new tank water will break down and the diatoms will begin to vanish on their own.

 

[Psylk87]

Wont 0 phosphates make my plants sick?

 

[swifty]

What I did for my 20 long, was buy a bristle nose pleco. He ate up pretty much 90% of the diatoms in a matter of hours.

The same day I also upgraded my lighting from a single zoomed 17w 6500k t8, to an aqueon dual lamp T5NO 18w 6700k/ 18w colormax fixture, and set the lighting for 9 hours.

They haven't returned since, so hopefully it stays that way.

 

[dmolavi]

Wont 0 phosphates make my plants sick?

Zero will, mine aren't actually at zero, but not near the 2ppm reading on the API kit. I keep my plants fertilized w/ Flourish Excel and Flourish Tabs, as well.

 

[dmolavi]

What I did for my 20 long, was buy a bristle nose pleco. He ate up pretty much 90% of the diatoms in a matter of hours.

The same day I also upgraded my lighting from a single zoomed 17w 6500k t8, to an aqueon dual lamp T5NO 18w 6700k/ 18w colormax fixture, and set the lighting for 9 hours.

They haven't returned since, so hopefully it stays that way.

Is this the fixture? Aqueon » T5 Dual Lamp Fixture | Products

I'll check into the Plecos...the diatomes are still in my tank, probably dying off, and I don't have to scrape the glass anywhere near as often as before...

I just looked at the pleco...they get pretty big, 4-6 inches. I have a 56 column tank, and I'm thinking that would be a little too large for me. I might add another Oto or 2.

 

[swifty]

Otos are just as good if not better cleaners than bristle nose plecos. I didn't go with them because I have larger cichlids in my tank and they wouldn't last.

Yeah, that fixture is the one I got. I'm sure it's cheaper online, but I got it at petsmart for $70.

I wanted a brighter light than the single strip t8, but not one as expensive/bright as a T5H0/double LED setup, and it fit the bill for me pretty well.

 

[Rivercats]

In a 20g nerites are the best choice for dealing with diatoms plus they also eat bio-film, green dust algae, and green spot algae which no other algae eater is capable of scraping off. They will also add no extra to the tanks bio-load. Oto's are great little fish but most are wild caught and do better in a mature tank of at least 6 months old. They are often difficult to acclimate. As for phosphates you need at least .5ppm in a planted tank. Using a phosphate remover in a planted tank isn't a good idea.

 

[dmolavi]

In a 20g nerites are the best choice for dealing with diatoms plus they also eat bio-film, green dust algae, and green spot algae which no other algae eater is capable of scraping off. They will also add no extra to the tanks bio-load. Oto's are great little fish but most are wild caught and do better in a mature tank of at least 6 months old. They are often difficult to acclimate. As for phosphates you need at least .5ppm in a planted tank. Using a phosphate remover in a planted tank isn't a good idea.

The only reason I wad running PhosGuard was to bring the level down from over 10ppm or whatever the highest reading on the API kits is. My test yesterday had be between 0.5 & 1ppm.