Good Idea or Bad Idea

[t57spikes]

My current diatom problem drove me to the brink tonight so I got the wise idea to take the entire 35 gallon tank apart and clean it like I was a mad man. I removed my gravel substrate, my driftwood, my 2 artificial plants, filter, and heater. The big wood seemed to be harboring the little suckers and they kept coming back and we're just awful looking, and the gravel just never seemed to come clean. Well long story short it's all back together (My filter is still cycled, I only rinsed it in tank water) and I'm running it as a bare bottom for a few weeks with my 10 danios in it to see if the problem will re occur or if the nasty gravel and wood were the issues. So was this a bad idea or a good one, or will I regret this cause I just started the entire new tank diatom bloom over again...

 

[Dragon.goby]

Diatoms are a perfectly normal part of a cycle. You basically just restarted the cycle so that the diatoms have to go through it again. All your cycling isn't just in the filter, when you deep cleaned your gravel and removed it you took out almost 60% of your ecosystem's bacteria. So to answer your question, yes it was a bad idea, not only because the diatoms will come back, but because your fish have to survive another cycle.


Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium Advice

 

[Mebbid]

Diatoms are a perfectly normal part of a cycle. You basically just restarted the cycle so that the diatoms have to go through it again. All your cycling isn't just in the filter, when you deep cleaned your gravel and removed it you took out almost 60% of your ecosystem's bacteria. So to answer your question, yes it was a bad idea, not only because the diatoms will come back, but because your fish have to survive another cycle.


Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium Advice

Hate to say it, but I agree completely.

 

[AbsurdAj]

Diatoms will go away eventually as the tank ages. You just have to be patient


Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium Advice

 

[t57spikes]

Well looks like I restarted it lol. I dont know why this tank is doing it, none of my other tanks have ever had any algea or diatom issues ever.

 

[AbsurdAj]

Could be an excess of nutrients and too much light in that particular tank. That's what usually causes algae outbreaks


Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium Advice

 

[t57spikes]

I've read diatoms are not an algea and light doesn't effect them...am I wrong?

 

[AbsurdAj]

Sorry about that I mixed up diatoms with regular algae for a sec.But lighting does affect them it's actually low lighting that benefits them not high lighting. However extra nutrients for them will cause them to have an outbreak namely phosphate and silicates.


Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium Advice

 

[Dragon.goby]

Is there another tank you can move your fish into while it cycles?

 

[Ricky 1]

Just get a squeeze of filter medium from a friend with a tank or a good lfs, put that in your filter and all should be good...........it's not a big deal cycling a tank these day's, lots will come out of your filter and go back in the substrate..........

 

[Old Scales]

Diatoms IMO are worse and SO common when you have new substrate. As the substrate ages and leeches most of its silicates and other mysteries, the diatoms go away. I agree with your frustration though, the stuff is UGLY! Keep up with weekly WC's to help remove as much silicates as you can while the diatoms eat up the rest. OS

 

[t57spikes]

The 10 danios that are in it are from the original cycle so I am going to use them to get a cycle again. I change water ever 2 days while cycling. I'm going to put new petco black sand substrate in and see what happens.