Diatoms

[alexhood]

hi guys, hope someone can help. i seem to have a bloom of unsightly diatoms attack my plants,rocks and wood. is there any easy way to get rid of it?
lights are on for 8 hours a day.
water change of 15% done every week
parameters are all normal(using hpi master test kit)
any advice would be appreciated.
i have tried scrubbing it off, looks like its gone then wen i put wood or rocks back in its still there. tank has been running for 3 years
thanks
alex

 

[fatheadminnow]

Check this site out to get more info on diatoms.

-FHM

 

[alexhood]

very interesting thanks very much......looks like it may b black brush algae.
wat lights should i have?
i have a 3 ft tank, the lights havent been changed since new(3 years)
thanks

 

[fatheadminnow]

What is your volume of your tank? 40 Gallons?

Also, do you have live plants, if so, how many?

Do you inject Co2 at all into the tank?

Also, do you have any powerheads or aerators.

Is your tank receiving and natural sunlight?

-FHM

 

[alexhood]

its 30 gal
yes live plants we have about 6
no i dont have co2
no powerheads
yes we have a bubble wall and 2 air stones
tank isnt near direct sunlight
thanks

 

[fatheadminnow]

its 30 gal
yes live plants we have about 6
no i dont have co2
no powerheads
yes we have a bubble wall and 2 air stones
tank isnt near direct sunlight
thanks

How many watts is your total light output?

Are you dosing any fertilizers?

When you get back to us on your total light output, we can make assumptions with that. Which might be the case.

Also, it could be from the lack of water movement in your tank with the absence of a powerhead.

What kind of fish do you have? Based on that, we will know if a powerhead would be suitable or not, and it is in your best interest to probably get on.

Without a power head, there is going to be "stand-still" water in your tank in certain places, and since the water is not moving that fast through these places, the ammonia that is present there can be utilized for algae to grow. But if you were to get a powerhead and move the water around more, there will be no "stand-still" water, in which case there will be no ammonia in one spot long enough for algae to utilize and grow.

There is always a trace amount of ammonia in the tank, there has to be so our beneficial bacteria in out filter can live, our test its just read it at zero when it gets to this level.

So, you want to get this ammonia in the filter as soon as possible, via a powerhead.

-FHM

 

[Dave Spencer]

If you do have BBA, then it will most likely be down to your plants not receiving enough CO2 in relation to the light levels you have, or it is too unstable. The instability seems unlikely, due to the small water changes you carry out.

You may need to supplement the carbon requirement of your plants. Use either Easycarbo, or Flourish Excel. If you apply these directly to the BBA, it will die off in no time and plant health should improve due to the carbon contained in the liquid.

Dave.

 

[waterdrop]

Dave,

Have you ever done this direct applying of Excel? Do you/people just use a regular syringe and plunge your hand in and squirt the leaf or have you seen long syringes or what?

WD

 

[Dave Spencer]

I have used the pipette from a Nutrafin pH test kit I bought to use with my 4dKH drop checker in the past. I would get it when a CO2 bottle ran out without me noticing.

What I do is drop the water level right down, exposing as much of the BBA as possible (works for staghorn too). Using the pipette, water sprayer or whatever, apply the Excel/EasyCarbo directly on to the algae.

By the time any maintenance has been carried out, and the tank refilled, the dose will have been in direct contact with the algae long enough to ensure it is dead.

Of course, the reason for the appearance of the algae will need to be addressed, but the continued dosing of a good carbon substitute will go a long way to curing the problem.

Dave.

 

[waterdrop]

Thanks much Dave, hope you have a good weekend -wd-

 

[alexhood]

ok so i looked at lights and cant see the wattage anywhere! they r called day glo? my inhabitants r, 2 torpedo barbs, 1 small silver shark, 2 congo tetras, 2 small hatchetts, a small plec and a few khulis,. oh and a dwarf gouarmi. would a power head be suitable?
i have ordered some flourish excel....how do i overdose it and by how much??
also ordered a spray bar for my filter...will that help at all?
wat powerhead would u recommend?
also it says on the link u gave me to not do water changes? is that a good idea
thanks for all ur help so far