Hi there,
you can even do 30-35% water changes twice a week
until the diatoms disappear.
Your tank is relatively new isnt it? Diatoms are common
in newer tanks....and decrease in likelihood after one year,
as the tank ages.
Adding more live plants can also reduce diatoms.
Basically, when there is an excess of nutrients in the water column,
and nothing to use them up, Diatom life forms grow and breed to
use up the nutrients. Mainly, they are harmless to fish, except in large
quantities they can absorb excess oxygen from the tank and cause your fish to starve for oxygen.
Things that will reduce Diatoms are:
Reducing feedings.
Increasing water change schedules.
Adding live plants that rapidly use up nutrients, some of which include Hornwort, Anachris, Ambulia (limnophilia), Cabomba, Java Fern and Java Moss, Water Wisteria and Duckweed. All these plants are easy to keep and grow water roots which absorb excess nutrients from the water column.
Adding a couple filter feeding shrimp may also help, as they filter nutrients out of the water column....Bamboo/Wood shrimp are the best suited for this, allow 5 gallons of water per shrimp.
Smaller shrimp like Ghost shrimp, Amano Shrimp, Cherry Shrimp, and Rudolph shrimp, also can help diatoms by scavenging uneaten food off the bottom effectively - for smaller shrimps such as these allow 1.5 gallons per shrimp. (Shrimp alter your bioload relatively little - example, 10 ghost shrimp is approximately the same bioload as 1 neon tetra). Apple snails are also excellent at this - allow 5 gallons per apple/mystery snail. Avoid "Cana Snails".
Sorry for the abrupt post yesterday, which wasnt as informative as I had hoped, I was running out the door as I typed it. Hopefully, this will serve more useful to you!
__________________
Never to suffer would never to have been blessed.
Edgar Allan Poe
Last edited by Sneaky; August 18th, 2006 at 01:44 AM.
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