Help Needed Diatons !

[adambrum]

It seems I'm destined to suffer diatoms , I had some problems when i first started this tank and just put it down to a bit of new tank syndrome but its slowly creeping back again and this stuff is stubborn and is no way connected to the amount of light as this stuff will grow in almost darkness.

Any body got any ideas , are there filter i can add to my canister ?

Thanks

 

[The-Wolf]

I've never seen a diatomatious filter available in the UK
however I belive you can purchase them in the states.

if your tank is mature why not try one of the royal plecos (L27a,L27b & L27c or a L191)
which would love the feast.

 

[Ferris]

Only ever seen it in newish tanks i'm afraid adam. How long has the tank in question been running?

 

[Teelie]

IME it goes away faster when you scrape it off the glass. It doesn't come back as strong the next time.

 

[Cheffi]

Can be associated with high nitrates and phosphorous. I have high nitrate in my tap water so I use Rowa-Phos now. It goes in a bag in your filter. It now means I get green algae which the fish love.

 

[adambrum]

The tank has been running about a year when i first had it i put it down to the glass/silicone leeching due to silca.

My water stats are fine never had an issue with them always thought i had good tap water but i have never checked for phosphate think i will get that tested when i get home.

diatoms on the glass is not a problem on 50kg of ocean rock it is !

 

[Cheffi]

yes that's true

 

[adambrum]

Just done a phosphate test on my tap water and the results are 2.5ppm ? no idea what this means other than there phosphate in the water ,Is this to much ?

 

[Cheffi]

Have a read of this adam; I'm still trying to find out how much is too much.

Algae

This is the only reference I have found so far to what is considered high:

"To evolve these phosphate-induced problems it is recommended to keep the concentration of phosphate always below 0.015 - 0.3 mg/l. "

 

[adambrum]

I might try Rowa-Phos see how it goes, forgot to mention this is affecting 2 tanks so i think it is down to my tap water.

 

[Cheffi]

Rowa Phos def worked for me and I can now see I need to change the contents of the bag as the brown is starting to creep in again. I did think about a nitrate remover hoping that that would help.