Diatom Algea

[Jonesy]

Wondering if Otto cats will clean my plant leaves that seem to be collecting with "dust". I know that i need to change my lighting for a long term solution, but will Ottto cats help short term??

[Melody]

Lighting isn't really the issue, but high light will help get rid of it. Its not really an algae so the lighting advice is different. Poor lighting is actually where it thrives. It also shows up in high-nitrate/phosphate situations and is common in new tanks. It will go away on its own eventually if the water parameters are stable. Keep that gravel free of leftovers, keep the lights on longer and you should see a steady improvement.

That said, some say algae eaters eat it but its not algae so they usually don't in my experience. The only creature I've seen devour it (through another's experience with it) is Ramshorn snails. They cleaned my friends tank up in no time. She couldn't believe it - posted pic's and everything. She was so impressed, as was everyone else who saw the pic's.

That's not a sales pitch, I'm sure you can get Ramshorns absolutely free from a fellow hobbyist close to you. If not, I have a bunch of Red Ram culls that you can have if you want to pick them up.

Good luck!

[Jonesy]

thanks for the offer Mel!! So i'm assuming that Ramshorn are plant safe?? The free ones are great, but are there any that you're selling, maybe the colorfull ones, that would work as well??I wouldn't mind the drive to get rid of this brown crap but i'll also keep an eye on leftovers and maybe increase the lighting duration....

[Melody]

The Rams she used were a wild type I believe, which the Reds are bred from but that doesn't guarantee anything. The culls are varying shades of Red Ramshorns, I'm just picky about brightness and some have shell damage. Yup, plant safe!

http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f227/canadiansinternetdotcom/MM-RedRamshorns.jpg

I've never seen or heard of the other non-plant-eating snails eating the Diatoms. I would doubt it based on their preferences, which is true algae.

[Melody]

Hey, I screwed up! Yes, it happens....lol. I just went searching for the thread and its Cyanobacteria that the Ramshorns eat. Sorry about that :Embarassing: .

[Jonesy]

So they won't eat the diatom??

[Melody]

I don't know, to tell you the truth, I've never tested them on it. Sorry to give you hope and then rip it to pieces - typical female.....lol.

[hp10BII]

Don't know whether this is true or not but I heard that diatom comes from the silicates leeched out from the aquarium glass. Seems a little out there, but I don't know.

That would explain partially why most people get the diatomic algae with new tanks. I always go through a brief period of this gunk with every new tank I set-up, it stays for a few weeks and magically disappears. It's easy enough to wipe down, trickier with delicate plants but if you have some fast growing stem plants, just cut off the bottom portion and replant. It's always good to have a little army of algae eaters anyways whether they would help with this or not.

With my tanks whether it's diatoms or whatever, it takes 6 mos to a year to find that right 'balance' when everything is ok and you're no longer fighting any 'unwanted' growth.

[Jonesy]

picked up 8 otto cats from king ed the other day and i have to say that they are doing an awesome job cleaning up the mess......

[Melody]

Now that's one of the funny things about that stuff - some say Oto's eat it, others say they don't touch it. But its that way about a lot of algaes. I'm thinking its a species thing - there are many algaes/organisms that fit the same description but they aren't all the same species. It makes sense that some would be more tastey than others :D . So snails would probably eat that stuff too, but I couldn't guarantee it to the next person who says they have Diatoms.:rolleyes:

Anyways, glad to hear that they're doing the job for you. Great fish too. You'll have to supplement their diet after the algae is gone though, especially with that many in the tank.

[Jonesy]

ya for sure.....the plan is to split them up and put 4 to a tank....also supplement with algae tabs that will be in for the pleco's anyway....