Marconis,
Join the crowd of NE US fish keepers dealing with water related troubles. I'm from the Philly area and my tap water comes from Aqua America; the largest water company in the US. I have posted on multiple web sites about various water problems. Here is a summary:
- Nitrates out of the tap between 20-30PPM
- Very bad water during the winter months; caused primarily by water runoff over frozen soil. Nitrates jump very high, and the excess oxygen saturation (lethal amounts) caused by low temperature.
- adding tap water and Prime directly to the tank kills fish. I need to premix the water and Prime in a bucket and circulate the mixture for at least an hour before using it.
- African cichlids that do not spawn. Livebearers (guppies & sword tails) that do not have babies.
- Diatoms that just won't go away. They are very bad (like your pictures) for over 6 to 8 months. Even after 1 1/2 years, I still have them.
- Film on top of the water that won't go away. The only way to control it is to run water skimmers constantly.
I have all these problems on all of my tanks (26G, 75G, and 150G). My neighbor installed an RO/DI system to correct his problem. I just don't want to spend the money or extra time for water prep. So I have resigned myself to living with the problem.
Other than the diatoms, do you suffer from any of the other problems I have?