Ahhh.. the diatoms will not go away

Considering your new test results, I think you could wait a little bit to see if the phos-zorb is going to help put an end to this problem. You may also be able to stop or at least slow the progress of your current diatom population by keeping the lights off for a few days. Otherwise, the only thing I can think of is exploring the idea of using a diatom filter. I'm not really sure if UV would help or not because all of my experience with them and what I have read/heard deals with their use on a SW tank.
 
Hi,

add some of these hero's to your tank and your problem will be gone in just 3-4 days. I have 55G tank, was fully covered with the brown algea, did the same, after 3 day's it looks realy good. I love these little guys nice active fish, cute eyes 2. It's a lovely fish.. So not just for cleaning...
Name is: Otocinclus affinis, also known as OTTO

Otto.jpg
 
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UnderWaterDiver said:
Hi,

add some of these hero's to your tank and your problem will be gone in just 3-4 days. I have 55G tank, was fully covered with the brown algea, did the same, after 3 day's it looks realy good. I love these little guys nice active fish, cute eyes 2. It's a lovely fish.. So not just for cleaning...
Name is: Otocinclus affinis, also known as OTTO
Click to expand...

Won't my cichlids ultimately pick these guys aparts and lead to an untimely demise? The tank is stocked all male and I have had to remove fish that could not handle aggression.
 
Otos and your cichlids will probably not be a good mix IMO. With all due respect to UnderWaterDiver, there are some good arguments that can be made against stocking an aquarium based upon problems...although a lot of us do, but in many of those cases, the results aren't nearly as ideal as we initially hoped for. IMVHO, the best bet will always be to find the source of the problem and fix it versus finding the bandaid. On the other hand though, otos are fantastic fish and I've kept a lot of them in the past so I would never want to imply that they should always be skipped but instead, keep them because you want to, not because you "need" to.

As always, just my opinion.

TG
 
TG - THat's what I had always been led to believe as well. I'm going to leave the tank lights off for a few days and see what happens. If that does not work, then maybe I will try the otto's. I'll let you know.

Thanks to all for the input.
 
Tommy Gun said:
Otos and your cichlids will probably not be a good mix IMO. With all due respect to UnderWaterDiver, there are some good arguments that can be made against stocking an aquarium based upon problems...although a lot of us do, but in many of those cases, the results aren't nearly as ideal as we initially hoped for. IMVHO, the best bet will always be to find the source of the problem and fix it versus finding the bandaid. On the other hand though, otos are fantastic fish and I've kept a lot of them in the past so I would never want to imply that they should always be skipped but instead, keep them because you want to, not because you "need" to.

As always, just my opinion.

TG
Click to expand...
I agree with this. Otos wouldn't last very long in an African setup, unless you're looking for expensive fish food. They certainly wouldn't be left alone long enough to do any real damage to algae levels.
 
So here I am 2 months later and the diatoms are still around. Even after adding the phos-zorb, my phosphate level never goes away. It drops down to .25, but then works it's way back up to a 1.5-2.0 within 3-4 weeks. TG had suggested a diatom filter - any suggestions on types and where to buy? Or do I try some syno's to see if they would survive by adding 2-3 at once?
 
excuzzzeme said:
I added a phosphate absorber pad and ditched the carbon and mine cleared up and hasn't come back unless I overfeed.
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exactly thats what I did! my tap water has phosphate in it, plus the carbon and I had major problems even after a year. I ditched all filters with carbon, added only the fluffy stuff and no more diatoms! my lights are on 10 hours a day! and at 2 watts per gallon no nothing.
 
What type pf gravel do you have in your tank? I only use aragonite in my tanks to help keep the silicates to a minimum which has caused me issues with diatoms in the past in the high pH environment of an African tank.
 
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