Osage_Winter
Aquarium Advice FINatic
- Joined
- Sep 9, 2010
- Messages
- 807
So the diatoms have not eased up -- on top of all my other problems with this tank including the strange water test results I am getting -- and have even apparently gotten more aggressive and worse, and that is with having a PhosGuard pouch in my AquaClear 110. I emailed Seachem about the issue, and here was their reply:
"Thank you for your question and for using Seachem products. I am sorry to hear that you are dealing with such a nasty diatom bloom.
It is definitely possible that the silicates and phosphates in your tap water are part of the problem. What were the silicate and phosphate levels prior to adding the Phosguard?
It sounds as if you are using the product properly, it will function correctly as long as water is passing through it. What are your phosphates and silicates now and how long has the phosguard been in the filter?
You may also want to look into other sources of phosphates as these can also encourage diatom growth. Phosphates are commonly found in different fish foods and can be a problem if the tank is overfed. Many pH buffers also use phosphates because they have a large amount of acid binding sites available which makes them extremely stable. What types of food do you feed your fish and how often? Also what other products are you using in the tank, are you using a pH buffer?"
Any thoughts? They seem to be going back to the overfeeding issue, which has been discussed here many times for my situation, but I have cut back to once a day and are now taking measures to skip a day or two...but what if this still doesn't get rid of the diatoms? Is it possible the PhosGuard won't help?
"Thank you for your question and for using Seachem products. I am sorry to hear that you are dealing with such a nasty diatom bloom.
It is definitely possible that the silicates and phosphates in your tap water are part of the problem. What were the silicate and phosphate levels prior to adding the Phosguard?
It sounds as if you are using the product properly, it will function correctly as long as water is passing through it. What are your phosphates and silicates now and how long has the phosguard been in the filter?
You may also want to look into other sources of phosphates as these can also encourage diatom growth. Phosphates are commonly found in different fish foods and can be a problem if the tank is overfed. Many pH buffers also use phosphates because they have a large amount of acid binding sites available which makes them extremely stable. What types of food do you feed your fish and how often? Also what other products are you using in the tank, are you using a pH buffer?"
Any thoughts? They seem to be going back to the overfeeding issue, which has been discussed here many times for my situation, but I have cut back to once a day and are now taking measures to skip a day or two...but what if this still doesn't get rid of the diatoms? Is it possible the PhosGuard won't help?