I don't know if this is the right section for this topic, but didn't know where else to put it. I have a 75 gallon tank with an aquaclear 110 (w/sponge, zeo-carb and biomax) and an eheim 2217 (mech, course foam pad, substrat pro bio media, polishing pad and carbon pad). The tank has pool filter sand and is stocked with 1 juvenile blue acara, 2 juvenile bolivian rams, 1 white skirt tetra, 2 black widow tetras, and a nerite snail. I have 4 more bolivian rams and a juvenile severum to add eventually, but don't want to add until I have everything under control in the tank. I had a huge nitrite spike 2 weeks ago, which I think was caused by the fact that my tank was finally cycling and I had also lost a fish that morning, but didn't find it until later on in the day. The tank is now at ammonia 0-0.25, nitrites 0, nitrates 5. I am having a huge problem with diatoms in the tank. I keep scrubbing them off the glass and cleaning the decor because it is out of control and frankly unattractive (this tank is in the living room). They won't stop coming back and I can't seem to figure out why. I know they thrive in lower lighting, but my tank has LED lights on from 7:30 AM to 10:30 PM. Also, not from the water or substrate because all of my other tanks don't have any diatoms. Someone said it could be caused from zeolites which I believe is in the zeo-carb I use in the aquaclear. My only question would be why now? I've had the tank running for well over 3 months now. Does anyone have any advice or solutions to this?
Diatoms won't go away Help please
- Thread starter mc12345
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fearlessfisch
Aquarium Advice FINatic
If you were cycling that recently, it doesn't surprise me that you are still dealing with diatoms. You probably just need to be patient. Once your cycle is complete and the tank has settled a bit, they will likely subside. It sometimes does take months before they are gone.
Another thing to consider is whether you have a clean-up crew in the tank (for fallen food, not diatoms). I have a few tanks with white play sand, and they tend to look dirty unless I have corycats in the tank, no matter how sparingly I feed. The dark detritus can look like diatoms but actually isn't. Five corycats make the sand sparkling white in a couple of hours. Corycats or similar bottom feeders won't take care of an actual diatom problem, but I consider them essential in my tanks with play sand that are past the diatom phase.
Another thing to consider is whether you have a clean-up crew in the tank (for fallen food, not diatoms). I have a few tanks with white play sand, and they tend to look dirty unless I have corycats in the tank, no matter how sparingly I feed. The dark detritus can look like diatoms but actually isn't. Five corycats make the sand sparkling white in a couple of hours. Corycats or similar bottom feeders won't take care of an actual diatom problem, but I consider them essential in my tanks with play sand that are past the diatom phase.
The diatoms seem to avoid the pool filter sand I have. It pretty much covers everything else. The sand actually looks fine lol. The diatoms are mainly on the glass and decor in the tank. I guess at this point it will be a waiting game.
erikbb
Aquarium Advice Apprentice
I think I have the same issue. The stuff covering everything is like a red brownish color. What is it? How do I get rid of it? Thanks.
They are diatoms, which actually isn't a type of algae. They grow in newly cycled tanks and will likely go away on their own. It might just take a while. I have also read that they can be caused by silica in tap water, zeolite (which was in some of my filter media) and high presence of ammonia. They started growing in my tank after a huge spike in nitrites, which likely was caused by a spike in ammonia first. I believe that the pool filter sand I use also isn't helping. It had a nice slime coat on it until I started the daily water changes. I vacuumed the substrate and stirred everything up to remove detritus while I was removing water. Between the nitrite spike, water changes, silica based sand, zeolite filter media and possible silica in the tap water...I have a lot of diatoms.
I have been scrubbing the glass with a sponge/algae scraper and the decor with a toothbrush. I also have a nerite snail that is slowly chipping away at it, though not fast enough to clear an entire 75 gallon tank.
rlederer
Aquarium Advice FINatic
Diatoms are a form of algae, actually. They are not the classic algae but are a subset of them. For a more formal definition, Diatoms are photosynthesising algae, they have a siliceous skeleton and are found in almost every aquatic environment almost anywhere moist. Both benthic and planktic forms exist. Diatoms are formally classified as belonging to the Division Chrysophyta, Class Bacillariophyceae. The Chrysophyta are algae which form endoplasmic cysts, store oils rather than starch, possess a bipartite cell wall and secrete silica at some stage of their life cycle. Aquarists often call them brown algae.
