# Finally got rid of BGA, now diatoms! Pics included



## megamax42 (Jun 28, 2011)

Yes the long, difficult battle against cyano has been won! The final solution was a combination of physically removing as much as possible, then dosing maracyn and KNO3. I probably don't even need to dose the KNO3 though because the maracyn DESTROYED it, but I do anyways because it's a planted tank and they look way better with the dosing. And such a victorious week it was. No ill effects, no dead fish, parameters stayed constant, plants started doing a million times better, even the fish seemed to have changed for the better.

Now my next trial has come. The tank has been running for about 8 months and for some reason I still had diatoms while I had BGA, which has been the last 3-4 months but they were nowhere near as bad as the BGA. After the cyano was killed off, the diatoms started slowly taking over, first on the least healthy plants. The healthiest plants seemed to be resisting it so I didn't put too much thought into it and I figured the tank was just springing back after the cyano removal and I could always remove the less healthy, infected plants. Well this morning I saw the diatoms on a fairly new grown leaf, which has escalated it's priority. After much research I have narrowed it down to 2 possibilities however I thought I would run it by you guys:

*1.)* The cyano had such a large effect on the tank that removing it caused the tank to lose nutrient converting organisms therefore requiring it to be cycled until enough bacteria grew in the filters to handle the new bio-load caused by the removal of cyano? And then perhaps this little bounce back caused the same diatoms found in a newly setup tank? I'm not sure how fast, or how much the cyano can directly 'eat' up any ammonia in the tank, but it was a pretty bad infection.

*And/Or?*

*2.)* My tank's substrate is playsand, not ideal I know, however the plants generally seem to grow well and grow big white healthy roots. The depth is probably 1 to 1.75 inches deep. Anyways I'm pretty sure it's silicate based sand, since I believe there's generally only two types, silicate and carbonate, and my KH value is 3, so I think it would be high if it was carbonate based. I've read on a thread that the Si-P ratio is the key to getting rid of diatoms. Right now I'm only dosing KNO3 and trace elements. Yesterday I just started a new DIY CO2 recipe as well. I think my problem may be that I'm not dosing KH2PO4, and the Si-P ratio is too high. Which I'm guessing is from my sand leeching, I've read the leeching slows gradually, however when I physically removed the cyano I stirred it up quite a bit possibly releasing silicates back into the water column.

*Possible extra culprits:*
*Lights:* On for 11 hours a day, switching down to 9 so we'll see how that goes.
*Filtration:* HOB filters rated for the tank. Not for more than the tank so I think I need more filtration. I've been looking at the Eheim classic but money is a big issue right now. In one filter I ripped the blue filter material/carbon out and used the plastic as a holder for filter floss. In the other filter I have 2 sponges and no filter. I had 10 extra bio balls sitting around and empty space in the filters so a week ago I through em in for kicks. They are each on separate sides of the aquarium so the water gets pretty well filtered.

*Complete list of tank stats*
40 Gallon breeder
2x39 watt T5 HO 
2 HOB filters, each rated for 20 gallons 
Glass top
DIY CO2
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 10-15 ppm
KH: 3
pH: 7.4-7.7 (trying to get it down, hopefully CO2 will help)
Temperature is around 80 F
W/C's 1-2 times weekly, 25-35% each time.

2 Angelfish (each about 6 months old)
9 Black neon tetras
3 Neon Rainbowfish
2 SAE
2 Ghost shrimp

As for the flora, I would say its lightly to medium-planted?


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## megamax42 (Jun 28, 2011)

On a happier note both my Angels just spawned for the first time! No hopes of babies since they're both girls but maybe means they're happy with their water parameters?


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