Diatoms and Low-Light Tanks

[DGalt]

So I've been struggling with what I'm pretty sure are diatoms for about a month now. The stuff has pretty much taken over my plants (was all over my dwarf hairgrass, which I pulled out, and is still all over the couple of plants that are still in there). The tank has been up for about 6 months.

Tanks Conditions:
15 gallon
40W CFL spiral bulbs, on for about 10hrs

I've stopped dosing everything because I'm in the process of taking the tank down so I can convert it to a low-light moss tank. But I was dosing:
Excel Daily
Flourish and KCl 2x a week
DIY CO2 (until it stopped working...I've got it back up and running yesterday though :D)

I don't know what my phosphate level is. Nitrates are generally around 15ppm. pH is about 7.5

My concern is that I'm going to be creating an even better breeding ground for this stuff when I go to a lower-light set up (shooting for about 1.5wpg, need to go to the store and see what they have for bulbs).

It's odd that I didn't have any issue with this when I first set up the tank (which, from my understanding, is when you generally see diatoms), but now, 6 months later, it's all over the place

Suggestions?

[Nolapete]

http://www.theplantedtank.co.uk/algae.htm

Usually found in newly setup tanks due to silicates and ammonia as the filter and substrate have yet to mature.

Can be vacuumed out or wiped of the glass with a soft cloth. Usually disappears after a few weeks when the tank has matured. Otocinclus will eat it.

That's a quote from my favorite algae solution site.

[DGalt]

that's the thing though...the tank has been up for a while. it's fully cycled. I don't know what my silicate levels are (or how to even test that).

I can keep removing it, but I don't see that as a real solution.

[Nolapete]

Seems that it is probably going through mini-cycles causing the diatom bloom. Do you notice it blooming after you do something in particular? Like, maybe dosing Excel?

[DGalt]

I can't think of any specific event. My DIY CO2 did die out on me, which I'm sure helped in causing the issue.

I've been playing around with things in the tank pretty much constantly. I've rescaped it a few times in the 6 month period and I've been pulling plants in and out. So it may just be that it hasn't had time time settle.

What I'm really concerned about is that it's going to take over the moss, which would be a real pain to clean up (part of the reason I pulled out the dwarf hair grass is because I could never get 100% of the algae off).

might be time to invest in some shrimp lol

i dunno. see how it goes I guess. DIY CO2 is back up and running, so that might help. Going to give the tank a good cleaning before I rescape again (not pulling out gravel or anything, don't want to need to recycle...but scrubbing glass, good gravel vac since I haven't been doing that as much as I should be, etc.)

[Nolapete]

Otos will eat it, so get a bunch hehe.

[Star_Rider]

that's the thing though...the tank has been up for a while. it's fully cycled. I don't know what my silicate levels are (or how to even test that).

I can keep removing it, but I don't see that as a real solution.


is the tank less than 1-2 years old? new substrate?

diatoms showed up in my acrylic tank.. prob a result of the substrate(gravel)

after a year or so it died back.
in my 10 it showed up at around 6 months as well as my 20.

[DGalt]

hmm....no it's only been up maybe 6 months. so maybe it still is in that "new" phase, although from what I've read it shouldn't be an issue after 3-4 months.

[Riiz]

hmm....no it's only been up maybe 6 months. so maybe it still is in that "new" phase, although from what I've read it shouldn't be an issue after 3-4 months.

All tanks are different, I've had some setups that never got a Diamtom bloom and some that were plagued by for the first few months and but would be eventually gone after 6-8months. I know how you feel with algae since it attacks and sometimes kills the slow growing plants, always a shame.

[jpappy789]

I've had diatoms last anywhere from 6-8 months as well.

Light, on the other hand, has never been an issue for me. I had less than 1 wpg for a long time and never had diatoms after those initial months.

[itsanobsession]

one thing i noticed was when i first stared my planted tank i got one anubias. got covered in diatoms. got a new higher light setup and got some red cherry shrimp and oto and they got rid of the diatoms. then i go green spot algae which is i ***** cuz my oto wont eat it. then i noticed that stopped growing after i got some wisteria and that stuff just took off growing. i think the plants started outcompeting the algae for nutrients which stopped/slowed down the algae growth considerably.

if ur jsut fighting diatoms. i got with some shrimp or a few otos.

[jpappy789]

Or just let it leave on it's own...no need to add anything as you'll have to deal with feeding them later anyways.