Dealing with the Diatom Bloom (aka brown algae)

Most new tanks get hit with the dreaded Diatom Bloom [brown algae] at the end of their cycle. I didn't know what it was when it finally hit me and man it looked bad. There wasn't much out there telling me what to do so I thought I'd share what I did and what I learned in the process!

[@HadEnough745]

That brown diatom crud drives me nuts. I have a new fairly new tank and am going through it. Thanks for the info.

[@brittneyhernandez1083]

Had Enough Me too. My planted tank is 8 weeks old. What did you try?

[@col-elrider7434]

Thanks for the video. I have this growing in my new tank and wondered what it was.

[@ShaneHenszey]

Great video. Started a new tank and after 2 1/2 months started to see a Diatom bloom at the end of cycling (rocks, glass, live sand bed, heater, filter tubing, etc. was covered in brown algae). I used a turkey baster to lightly blow brown algae off of live rocks, plants, etc. Cleaned inside glass sides with a filter pad. Then siphoned up all the brown algae from the live sand bed. Then performed a water change of 20%. I performed these steps in this order for 3 weeks and the Diatom bloom was eliminated without damage or loss. Light did not seem to have much of a noticeable impact. I did cut back on the feeding during the 3 weeks as well. Nitrates went from 40ppm, to 20, to 0 in the 3 weeks. I am sure if I did the water changes more frequently the nitrates would have been eliminated much quicker. Be patient and keep an eye on your nitrates during this process to make sure they are decreasing. "Good Night Good Hockey"

[@aquaristapprentice3810]

Shane Henszey love the turkey baster idea! thanks for the tip and thanks for watching!

[@jlantican85]

Great vid! I just started my tank also and been out of my mind doing research. Other solutions i found on the web: 1 - Feed less 2 - Watch the nitrate level. They thrive on those as well. 3 - light is a factor but not as important as the first two. Still need to cut down on the light. 4 - otocinclus catfish are great to keep if having this issues. Only bad part about it is, they are a schooling fish. They need to be kept in a school of 6 minimum. BUT they are adorable little boogers that are very active! I too am at this phase so i hella freaked out. good think i caught it early before it had a major bloom.

[@tuannguyen2990]

i'm having this grow in my 7 months old tank. :( it looks nasty and cover the plants

[@TheGrudgeLady-sb8xl]

Didn’t know it was an algae! I have a patch of it all up my air tubing. Hasn’t spread but cool to know what it was.

[@CLARAIVETTE1]

I just noticed those brown spots and was wondering what it was!!! Thanks for sharing!

[@Tshizzle42o]

I think the diatoms are on the plants ( maybe dormant )and the water in a new tank is better for them to live so they get out of control until the tank stabilizes. I have had several tanks and never had a diatom issue. Those had no live plants. I set up a 20g planted tank 6 weeks ago and it had a horrible diatom bloom about 10 days in. Everything was brown. This lasted about a week while i was figuring out what to do. During that time i did a 25% water change every day along with rinsing my filter sponge. When that didnt work i decided to clean everything i could without removing anything from the tank. My snails and bristlenose pleco took care of what was left in about 2 days after i did a 75% water change/gravel vac, disassembled and sterilized my filter ( only rinsed the sponge to keep any beneficial bacteria )and scrubbed the glass. Now i dont have any growth on my plants or decor but the glass is getting slimy and my water is yellowish brown. I have a marineland penguin 150 HOB with sponge on the intake and using 2 of the standard filter cartridges in the filter. Rinsing the intake sponge and doing a 25% water change every 5 days. Lighting is 3 15w daylight cfl on for 10hr a day.I have 1 male betta, 5 female betta, 8 neon tetras, 5 med sized nerite snails, an albino bristlenise pleco, and an african dwarf frogin the tank. Planted with 1 java fern, 3 red rotalla*spelling?*, 4 small crypts, 1 small anubius, some dwarf hair grass, and 2 amazon sword. There is also an air stone. I want the brown water to go away. Anyone have any suggestions?

[@finalout99]

I have a month old tank. Similar live plants as your aquarium, 10 gallons, heater, two pieces of driftwood. Ph is at 7.2. Need to invest in a complete water testing kit. I just started getting the brown blooms. I'm glad to hear, at least from this video, that this shall pass. Thanks for the vid!

[@mparent9166]

Was informed to try bristlenose pleco, they do stay very small for your tank and will eat that up.

[@thefightingfedora2976]

My ten gallon grow-tank has a bunch of juvenile prawns. It got a diotom bloom on the glass but the prawns were eating at it so i left it. After a month (and literally overnight) a bunch of copepods appeared in a tank that hasn't had any additions in months. They're now busily cleaning the glass.

[@mystique8179]

Yes I have the worst algae bloom! I set up my new aquarium 3 months ago and it's killing my java moss and is covering everything. I bought a wave maker as I have a sponge filter so I'm hoping that will help on the next water change. BTW your tank looks awesome and I love your pink fish what is it? Also is that a lucky bamboo plant growing in your tank? I had no idea you could submurse them underwater I would love to try that. Good luck with the dreaded algae 😉

[@CumminsTV.]

The pink fish is a glo fish

[@muffet5076]

Nerite snail will eat brown algea and they wont eat live plants either they do a great job i love them !

[@fredrickfernandes8757]

Apple sanil i have seen do it mine Nerite he clings on to aqauarium walls only

[@marthanewsome6375]

You boost the light up, not down to help the diatom bloom. It reacts opposite to normal green algae, where light increases grown, diatom doesn't react well to increased light. You are stirring it up, which you should try not to do. Cut affected leaves carefully and remove them from the tank altogether. The light will encourage new plant growth, which diatom doesn't like either. The more diatom cycled through your filter will encourage more green algae later. So, increase light and don't stir things up too much.

[@aquaristapprentice3810]

appreciate the tip! it definitely got out of control until I figured things out and I probably stirred things up too much. will definitely avoid that in future new tanks!

[@toddmiller1933]

Martha Newsome hey I think this brown algae is just staring in my tank. My tank is new and is planted seems to have got in to some plants, how can I stop in getting too bad :)

[@matthewodea3295]

that's really odd iv got it n one of my tanks its a the front on the gravel its in a roma 90 the ones with 2 t8 bulbs when I bought the tank new after a few daysthe lghts stopped working so I pulld the ballast out n replaced it with n other ballast ut its oney a single so oney my front power glo bulbs working and that's where the diotom agles at the front thres non at the back where heres less light oney a tiny bit on the plant leaves the plants are bang in the middle of the tank I'm not saying ur wrong but its odd why iv non at the bak oney below my light

[@hel6ova9]

I've got this problem too. My local aquarium expert told me that it's because my tank hasn't completed a cycle yet, although I've had the aquarium for 5 months. The Nitrite to nitrate ratio is out of balance so I'm to add a stabilizing liquid every day for one or two weeks. I'm using Nutrafin Cycle which "works together with other beneficial strains to eliminate harmful toxins". I'll let you know how I get on......cheers

[@hel6ova9]

ALSO just found this guy on you tube.....brilliant kzbin.info/www/bejne/apSXfqKFeZKtpqs

[@hel6ova9]

my tank has been hit quite severely with this bloom. Lost a pleco to it. Have snipped back all the leaves that were smothered by this bloom and now hoping that it's sorted. Very traumatic for me to lose a female bristle nosed pleco to this nasty bloom... Thank you so much for your shared info....very helpful.

[@aquaristapprentice3810]

hel6ova9 ahh that's brutal. Sorry!

[@gamwpanagia]

I lost my first fish a gorgeous oranda red cap to this devil :( a year later I’m still sad. I hate brown algae with a passion,I now do water changes every 3rd day and threw in some Malaysian trumpet snails that came with a fern

[@hel6ova9]

5 months later and I have severely planted out the tank, raised the temp to about 26/27 degrees C and I barely have to touch it. The 'Devil' aka brown algae has completely gone and I have learnt to do as little as possible to the tank. All ammonia and nitrite/nitrate levels are perfect. All fish happy and healthy. I have also leart that if you lower the temp, then the fish get Ich and die. Cheers guys...

[@aquaristapprentice3810]

Sir SMKSAIOT - Yes, I think the phosphate pad is doing an effective job. I have absolutely no diatom bloom any longer and green algae growth is at a minimum. It doesn't hurt that I have a Siamese Flying Fox in there--that guy rocks!

[@sphiinxart4954]

I've had a 20 freshwater tank for a year before getting any sort of algae. I think it came off of the moss ball that I recently added. Same thing also happened to a 5 gallon betta tank that I used to have. It had live plants in it from the start, but the brown slime didnt show until after I added marimos...

[@aquaristapprentice3810]

Sphiinx Art that's a long time before getting any kind of algae!

[@NB-xu1fg]

i caught it early thankfully. just light blotches here and there on my 60 gal. watched this video and read some of the comments. bought a phos pad. cut 2 pieces for the filter then another to wipe down glass and decorations. haven't seen anymore in 2 days. just a little left on my anacharis plants but their starting to clear up. thanks for the tips

[@aquaristapprentice3810]

N B that's so awesome to hear! glad to have been a little help!

[@juliepurcell8820]

This isn't my 1st cycle but it keeps coming back

[@aquaristapprentice3810]

Julie Purcell zoinks! That's rough...not fun at all. Hopefully you are able to get rid of it for good!

[@nunyabisnass1141]

If you're using municiple water, or well water it may be too hard with disolved minerals.

[@danielidoine766]

thanks for the video! just noticed something similar in my tank that I thought was related to the log in the middle I bought and left in boiled water for 2 days. but it must be this. I already have 3 Otos and 5 crystal shrimp. while they do seem to eat it, they don't seem to be making a big dent. Time for a water change and some scrubbing!!

[@bearieebear1]

Ahhh in happy to hear it's common, I was starting to freak out because I was gone for the weekend and came back to see it covering my pants and glass

[@Mothana808]

This happend with me today i went away and came back to find my fish tank filled with it on walls and floor, my tank is plastic ( 1000 liter )

[@ayunkhan2395]

You should wash your pants with a detergent.

[@bourst]

My tank is cycled for 5 years. My nitrates are near zero. I have a phosphate sponge in my filter. What am I doing wrong?

[@jfy1]

What airstone is that?

[@shanehugehugentugler903]

how do you keep your sand substrate white? i have white substrate also but it turned brown and green from the algae growth. also it killed all the green algae. any thoughts?

[@Brew84drum]

Good info! I am currently going threw this with my new 40 breeder. Btw I smashed that sub button for ya ✌️

[@domesticwoods]

Great info. Thanks!

[@MrRyanchester]

Hey guys- I got a 29 gallon super basic livebearer tank. It’s my most basic set up ever- no live plants, no snails, no real rocks. It’s my “working 50 hours a week” tank- fake plants and fake rock structures and happy fat livebearers. Ran much more intricate tanks in the past but not for me right now. I have the beginning of diatoms coming in and this time will not be adding any more fish like ottos or live plants. I have some leftover “algone” pads- would algone work for diatoms if I popped some packets in my canister? Any feedback much appreciated. Thanks!

[@joyberryyy]

What's the name of the pink fish?

[@matthewodea3295]

I think it forms where theres low water movement n high nitrates if u don't own a nitrate test kit I strongly seguest you buy one if ou oney do one 20% water change weekly with oney a few plants as I did even if u clean filters glass n gravel they'll still build up

[@aquaristapprentice3810]

matthew o'dea totally right. Although in this case my nitrates were really low. Talking to the local fish shops this is a common bloom that happens to all tank startups.

[@matthewodea3295]

iv never had it b4 n iv had lots of tank set ups but I just got it n my roma 90 and it may be soe thing to do with the substrate as I changed from my normal gravel set ups to tetra complete and put small gravel to cap I oney had it at the front of the tnk non at the back n the bulb at the back don't work oney the front t8 what ver causes it its a bloody pain to get rid of that for sure n one of my plattys also died but may not iv been for that reson pitty iv nae lost a fish n ages too

[@anikrd9829]

The Demasoni barb or The Roseline shark eats diatoms like crazy. MIne ate all in a night only. People should give it a try

[@jacob6218]

In the morning my tank is fine, i get home form work and its covered in the brown alge. Plz help.

[@abdal-bar3750]

Hey, good info.. I am curious about something else though.. Which is that Pink Fish??

[@aquaristapprentice3810]

Abd al-Bar that's a glo-fish skirt tetra...moment of weakness on my part and got sucked into buying them in the pet store. they're genetically engineered to fluoresce in blue light...they look cool but they aren't natural looking at all lol...

[@abdal-bar3750]

+AquaristApprentice Thanks for the info.. I'm a beginner in the hobby.. U have any ideas/Video about how to clean a sand bed with lot of plants, which I don't want to disturb a lot..

[@aquaristapprentice3810]

Abd al-Bar that's a good question! my tank has a lot more plants now and I find that I just vacuum the best I can but plants do a lot of the filtering anyway. you shouldn't have to do a lot of vacuuming with a well planted tank! I only hit the bare spots in the foreground mostly...

[@williamsnyder1424]

You can start by taking that Lucky Bamboo out. Should not be submerged, it is not an aquatic plant. Just keep the roots submerged.

[@aquaristapprentice3810]

It wasn't in for long. Definitely discovered that quickly!

[@mariannepereira85]

what is that fuschia fish? just gorg.. and ur tank is beautiful!

[@aquaristapprentice3810]

marianne pereira thank you! that's a glofish skirt tetra...same as the yellow ones.

[@joannab7299]

Don't support glo fish... it's unethical and not to mention makes a tank look like something put together by a 5 year old.

[@ashleykeith9204]

My nerite snails eat the bloom I have going on in my 10 gal.

[@aquaristapprentice3810]

Yeah I hear they work great. I didn't want snails but that's definitely an option for those interested!

[@ashleykeith9204]

@@aquaristapprentice3810 for sure and the only get about an inch so not too much space taken :)

[@Ekster77]

I have 2 nerite snails, but they do not help with the brown algea on your plants, only on hard substrate as glass, stone and wood. Today I bougt 5 Amano shrimps and while observing them I saw them eating leaves entirely clean! I would really recommend them. My tank is 6 weeks old and the brown algea is driving me crazy. Because of it covering the leaves of your plants, they can't photsynthesize properly and threfore not grow as well as they should. And because plants are very important in the battle of algea you get a vicious circle. If I were you I would also buy some more plants. Good luck!

[@codybrookehanson2346]

It only took 4 weeks for mine to explode all over everything.

[@Jimidybillybob]

What is the pink fish??

[@ellagregory818]

did the phosphate pads help ?

[@aquaristapprentice3810]

Ella Gregory yes I think they did! that and good old fashioned time.

[@ellagregory818]

AquaristApprentice thanks so much ...u have this pretty white gravel with ugly brown algae all over it . ill try the pads

[@Onzawa3340]

They don't sell phosphate pad where i live

[@Colonist83]

Mine doesnt seem to go away. Its not super concentrated but every time I clean it comes back in a few days

[@aquaristapprentice3810]

It sucks...i dealt with it for several weeks...couple months at least.

[@Joshua-dc1bs]

Your fish are so cute!

[@aquaristapprentice3810]

Thanks!

[@francoisemares5755]

What was that blue scrubber called again ?

[@sharkjazzstudios3347]

Skimmer I think

[@almas7123]

Been two weeks and it will not go away. Not sure what to do 🤔

[@aquaristapprentice3810]

Mine lasted a couple months. It's ugly!

[@scottmclennan9231]

I think it comes from fish gravel or turtle gravel.

[@juliebrown1510]

What was the name of the blue pad for the filter?

[@aquaristapprentice3810]

That's a phosphate pad. It's actually green but the aquarium lighting made it look bluish in the video!

[@snail2art]

My otos love them.

[@johnyoyo4281]

It took me 4 months to get brown algae hmmmm lucky for me nom nom there goes the algae eaters :P

[@Tokiitoxic]

Ok first my water was cloudy then the glass was slimes now I have a little bit of brown algae it’s a tank that didn’t have time to cycle because it was an emergency just to put the fish in their I made a beginner mistake and put my Berta in first

[@fredrickfernandes8757]

You learn from your mistakes i did the same...say it a curiousity or excitement...

[@christieallred6320]

Good info, thanks :)

[@hel6ova9]

I got the info that you lessen the light, I did that and bazinga! lots and lots of brown algae growth, so more light is good..yes...?

[@aquaristapprentice3810]

Indeed. That can work. What I've learned is that there are different types of diatoms that behave differently. It's apparent that in your case, growth slowed with increased light. That's great!

[@millierose919]

What type of fish is that pink one please?

[@aquaristapprentice3810]

That is a GloFish skirt tetra. One of those bioengineered fish you see in some fish stores under blue light!

[@millierose919]

@@aquaristapprentice3810 thank you, I've never heard of them or seen them before.

[@heythere5817]

There a certain snails that will clean it right up people. Easy fix

[@leonotthelion]

Which ones??

[@charismarodriguez3862]

It does not clear up by itself 🙄

[@VK4VO]

seachem excel flourish does the trick

[@aquaristapprentice3810]

I've used Flourish and Excel right from the start - I'm not sure it's the whole solution unless I wasn't using enough of it. For my 30 gal tank I alternate each day between a capful of Flourish and a capful of Excel. You don't want your micros mixing with your macros as they will interact before they get absorbed by plants. Perhaps if I used more during this phase it would have helped though. Something to remember if I set up a new tank again!

[@loreall.2461]

I’ve been dosing my tank with Flourish Excel per their dosing schedule and it’s not working. Plants are not thriving and I still have diatoms after two months. Must be a conspiracy.

[@FacT-Xx]

Its protista not brown alage

[@Alinsouth]

It’s coming from wood drift bog wood all types of wood

[@KaitlynnKaitlynn8132]

You talk too much. Instead of just showing us what we can do.

[@rabones22]

Lots of repetitive talk. But thanks for the info

[@Andricity]

Great info! I am going to get that material. I have been dealing with this brown breakout recently and this gives me another idea to try.I subscribed to your channel, please check mine out and sub if you feel fit. Thanks!

[@aquaristapprentice3810]

Andricity thanks! Subscribed! Good luck with the bloom!

[@hectorrodriguez7]

I actually like how this brown stuff looks on my tank

[@northtexasskies3243]

Hector Rodriguez makes it natural

[@formereverything4268]

hold the camera still

[@aquaristapprentice3810]

Doug Finlayson ok.

[@jijajino1]

You talk so much come to the point quickly.

[@nickweber4894]

You expect people to listen to a guy that doesn't even know that the "bamboo" in his tank isn't full submersible? They will die if you don't lift the leaves out of the water...

[@RLMUD]

BLA BLA BLA Get to the damn point

[@glensexton2280]

Agreed

[@indiankitchen754]

Yes

[@moghaderi366]

Too much talk no action

[@budfahnestock2418]

uhh.. um... uhh....

[@ginofoogle6944]

you repeat yourself way too much.. just get to the point next time..

[@aquaristapprentice3810]

Thanks for the feedback! Thanks for the feedback!

[@xbeadlejuice]

I really wanted to learn but not even a full minute into the video I had to click away because of all the "uhhs".

[@eatshitaholes89]

Common plecos will take care of brown algae. Two 4 inch plecos could clean that tank in two days. And maintain it also. The bottom feeders you have in there will do nothing.

[@scarletamazon3455]

common plecos get huge. Most people don't have a tank big enough to support one as an adult, let alone two, so please stop recommending them to people as a cleaner fish.

[@Marlin123]

first video that comes up when you search in KZbin "Brown algae" That is very helpful. I think I have one of the type of fish you have!🐢✋

[@aquaristapprentice3810]

That is so cool that it comes up first! Thanks for sharing and I hope I helped!

[@alleyeson2594]

Love your tank. My 10gal tank is 6 months old and this is starting all over my tank.

[@steg245]

Im just coming to the end of my cycle on my first ever tank. I freaked when I saw what i now know to be brown algae covering my substrate and a little on the glass which i wiped off. Doing some research on what to do and came across your video.

[@nathanhammond3960]

Can also be to much silicates in the water column which it usually through some types of sand

[@joelricks6555]

My tank started this when I changed over to sand

[@thefishchannel48]

Chinese algae eaters love brown algae

[@vasantha5009]

High tech tanks will have such problems. Try cheap 100 dollar planted tank(no filter) - Ecology of the planted aquarium by Diana Walstad

[@peridot-20]

I've had this in both my tank's & all you can do is keep on top of it but regarding harming fish it's a No No 😏 They're extra food for fish & my Cory's besides fish breed regular. Thanks for adding the video 🙂

[@andrewsewell2279]

I have a 75 oscar tank. I get a big brown spot in the center of the sand. It doesnt grow on the glass anymore. I had two cory catfish to keep it down and it seemed to help but the oscar kept attacking them so i moved them to my angelfish tank. I also have the sun hitting the tank. Could that be a part of the bloom as well?

[@aquaristapprentice3810]

Yeah I’d say the light could be a problem there. No way to know for sure unless you change it and see if it helps! Lots of water changes!

[@AquaticHaus]

Hey man , hope to get some of your advise.. my planted tank is already running more than 7 months it had diatom during the first two weeks then it was running smoothly but lately this two months the diatom is striking back real bad and never really going away... I've cleaned my filter twice about 30 apart both cleaning with the canister filter but it seems no differences even if I turn down the lights and I even hate phosphate removal in the canister filter cleaned the first time it was dirty and when I cleaned the second time it wasn't really dirty but diatom is still going strong in the tank.. Hope you could give me some advise eg do I need to provide oxygen at night or dose some chemical that could kill them or dose some bacteria liquid or something.. I am not sure what is wrong

[@aquaristapprentice3810]

Such a bummer that you have to go through this all over again. Diatoms are silicate eaters and they are found in sand or in hard water. If you have added sand or some types of rocks since your first cycle, it's possible that you reintroduced them to the tank. It's also possible that you have harder water which adds them when you do water changes. They feast on both silicate and nitrates so the real trick is to wait until they exhaust the silicate supply from your rocks and sand and then ensure that you are doing ample water changes to remove your nitrates. I think there are ways to filter your water supply but I don't have a whole lot of experience doing that nor do I know how successful you will be if you have hard water. But ultimately you just have to wait until the bloom cycles out again and do your best at cleaning what you can off the glass and surfaces it is collecting on.I also understand that some snails love eating it and they can help knock it down. Also, I've read that otocinclus catfish do a pretty decent job but I haven't tried that to know from experience. Bummer man!! Such an ugly looking bloom that you should only have to deal with once!!

[@AquaticHaus]

AquaristApprentice hey man you have a point there , I had thought of that as well cleaning the filter that water is coming into the house . Thanks alot man I will do more water change and continue observing.

[@i_am_wi11_]

snails and pleco dont eat it?

[@autobotavengerfireballxl5339]

Panda cory I have them too what great little bottom feeders

[@trillbill4028]

I gave my son a small planted 3 gallon tank and these diatoms have become a SEVERE problem. I clean the glass and the stones in the tank weekly to help cull the diatom scourge but its on so many of the plants. Should I pull the plants and start over? Its such a small tank so if I need to restart its not going to hurt my feelings at all, I just want to see the green of my plants not this rusty brown.

[@aquaristapprentice3810]

Starting over just delays the satisfaction of a planted tank when you will have it happen again. It's something to be expected for all new tanks so you just have to power through it. It sucks though so I empathize greatly! Just keep doing what you are doing...mine took a long time so patience is key!

[@fredrickfernandes8757]

if plants haven't melted i suggest u do 20% water changes every 2 days

[@parisologie]

Thank you for the informative video!! Also really loving the comments section. Really helpful read. Thanks so much for sharing your insight.

[@aquaristapprentice3810]

merrytraveller awesome! so glad you like... many thanks!

[@weo1weo1weo1]

I have some brown algae or diatom thing but its starting to form on my fish themselves.... its not velvet because I used parasite killer for a while and saw no effects... my fish are slowly being killed by this brown stuff

[@aquaristapprentice3810]

weo1weo1weo1 zoinks! I can't say I've seen or heard about that so I don't know what to suggest. Sorry amigo and good luck!

[@weo1weo1weo1]

darn... well the brown stuff is still on them but they seem okay now

[@aquaristapprentice3810]

weo1weo1weo1 that's a relief!

[@ortizma13]

Great video. I have been dealing with diatom algae for quite come time. I feel as though my tank has never properly cycled. I use a uv lamp to keep it under control but the brown algae builds up on that too and blocks the light. I am going to look at my phosphates and see if that could be causing it. I have also heard that sulfur can cause it too. The water here in Florida has loads of sulfur because of the mangrove swamps. I also have 2 ppm of ammonia in my tap water. Any tips on that are greatfully welcomed.

[@aquaristapprentice3810]

Thanks for the compliment Miguel! Boy, your water conditions in Florida sound tough to begin with. How often do you change your water? I do a small change once a week. Our ammonia levels must not be that high so I put tap water directly into the tank and then put an additive right into the tank. I use API Stress Coat. Other folks will pre treat the water in a bucket before putting into the tank. Tough question! The good news at least is the diatom bloom DOES go away!

[@aquaristapprentice3810]

Hey again Miguel...I've been thinking of this some more. Florida probably treats your water pretty heavily with chloramine hence the 2ppm readings you are seeing. Since everyone's water is different, I suspect that the water conditioners you buy at your LFS are an average dosage that is usually sufficient for most people. Have you ever considered a test that would take a 5 gal bucket and test the water for ammonia/ammonium before and after you dose it with a conditioner? For example, if you start with 2ppm, then dose it with a capful of conditioner and it knocks it down to 1 ppm, if you do 2 capfuls I'd be curious to see if it goes down to 0. Once you know roughly what it would take for every gallon of tap water you are replacing in a water change, then you should be able to adjust what you put in as a conditioner every time. It may take you a little effort to dial in, but I can see it paying off in the end.

[@skyefox3597]

AquaristApprentice this is great advice. I’m not in Florida but this advice just earned my sub to your channel.

[@50_fishes55]

it is a single celled microorganism it is age old and feeds off silicates you can use distilled or rodi water phosphates and nitrates Dont affect it. if you leave it alone it will eventually run out of food.

[@Geoff]

diatoms been in my tank for 6 months. Tank is fishless, unplanted, no filter, with only a single air stone. The tank does have silicates from some added natural rock. Nitrites, nitrates are 0 reads. But how do I get it to turn into the green algae?

[@calgary_kai]

How would you know that the cycle is hit?

[@aquaristapprentice3810]

You mean your nitrogen cycle? Basically when you detect nitrates for the first time. That's when you know you have the right bacteria in the water column to go from ammonia to nitrites and then from nitrites to nitrate. Regular water changes to remove the nitrates from there!

[@aquaristapprentice3810]

+jlantican85 Thanks! Those are similar tips I found as well. I was able to knock my nitrates down and I do regular water changes so that probably helped keep it under control to be sure. I did adjust my lighting to experiment, but you are correct that it isn't a huge factor and I couldn't tell any difference. I actually had a similar thought about the otos and didn't want to get many. Although I have gotten cory cats in pairs and they act like happy puppies in the tank so I bet you could get away with just a couple. Regardless, diatom is AWFUL looking. The good news is it's temporary and it will turn to green algae after about a month. I admit I was embarrassed to show off my tank because it got so bad. If you are interested in more videos, please subscribe!!

[@VANGASKHAN]

What kind of white sand is in the tank?

[@aquaristapprentice3810]

Oh dang. I don't even remember that. It was literally the stuff found at petco in their aquarium section. Nothing special really!

[@lisaw2504]

Use quikrete pool filter sand brand from home depot . Rinse repeatedly, until clean (about 30 times). Best ever, looks more natural, less white... and $5.48 for 50 pounds.

[@aquaristapprentice3810]

That's definitely a great price!

[@floydiangreen]

Is that lucky bamboo in your tank?

[@luketriebwasser6582]

Yes

[@fredrickfernandes8757]

@@luketriebwasser6582 Does it help to remove nitrate???

[@marthanewsome6375]

You look rather new here to the hobby. Hope you have improved.

[@1invag]

fish will eat this stuff, especially things like sword tails. Otocynclus will also eat it obv, If they arent constantly picking at it you might be over feeding them slightly. If they're constantly peckish they'll do a fair bit of the work for you. My female sword tails guard it fiercely from the male lol

[@aquaristapprentice3810]

Good tip Combed Autumn! Thanks!

[@tmahar77]

Hey Bud, the Bamboo is not supposed to be fully submersed. The grass you said it looks like it's dieing...isn't a submersed plant either. That grows on the edge of the water in nature. So, it might be dieing.

[@aquaristapprentice3810]

T. Mahar thanks for the feedback. You are right about the bamboo and I've long discarded it. The grass ended up doing fairly well and carpeted out a bit, but not to my liking and I'm slowly getting after it to remove it.