# I have Diatoms



## Red_Rose (Mar 18, 2007)

I have some Diatoms on the glass of my 10g tank(an NPT) and I was looking around in PetsMart today to see what I could use to get rid of it since it won't wipe off easily for me.

One of the things I saw was a blue handle that had a piece of metal at the bottom of it. It looked like something you'd use to scrap off ice from a windshield and I also came across sponge scrubbers as well. Which one of the two that I mentioned would be best to remove the diatoms? I was told to just use a cloth to wipe it off but it's like the crap is stuck on there so I have to scrape it off since it won't just wipe off for me.

Thank you.


----------



## Carissa1 (Aug 25, 2007)

I use a credit card. It works great and won't scratch like metal or a sponge with a rock stuck in it might. I guess if I had to pick between the two options I would go with the metal. Or get algae eating fish like Oto's, they love the brown stuff.


----------



## Homer_Simpson (Apr 2, 2007)

Carissa1 said:


> I use a credit card. It works great and won't scratch like metal or a sponge with a rock stuck in it might. I guess if I had to pick between the two options I would go with the metal. Or get algae eating fish like Oto's, they love the brown stuff.


If it is diatoms and it gets to the point that you have to use a credit card to scrape it off, the otos will not be able to make a dent in it. I know this for a fact because this is exactly what happened in one of my ten gallon tanks. I threw a couple of otos in there and despite their best efforts, they could not make a dent in the algae, so they gave up. This stuff was driving me crazy as it seemed to permenently stain my aquarium glass like a stubborn hard water stain for months.

This is what finally worked for me and I am not saying that it will work 100% for others. I am just relating my experience. Frequent water changes did not make it go away, overdosing of excel did not make it go away, I already had C02 injection and it made no difference, everytime I scrapped it off with a credit card it came back.

I had ordered some barley straw to test as a algae preventative for another tank that I set up and since I had a lot left over, I decided what the heck. I put some in a pantyhose and clipped it to the top of the tank where it would be hit with the most water flow and light. Within 3-4 days clear spots began forming where the algae was(kind of like on a cold winter day when your glass is all fogged up and you turn up the heat and the fog starts to break up as clear spots form on the windshield). After about six weeks the glass is clear and the algae is all gone.


----------



## mistergreen (Mar 3, 2007)

I got the blue handle with the metal thing from petsmart.. It's great...
You put little effort into scraping. It scraps green spotted algae really easy too.

it's like a razor but less dangerous and no scratching.


----------



## Carissa1 (Aug 25, 2007)

Homer_Simpson said:


> If it is diatoms and it gets to the point that you have to use a credit card to scrape it off, the otos will not be able to make a dent in it. I know this for a fact because this is exactly what happened in one of my ten gallon tanks. I threw a couple of otos in there and despite their best efforts, they could not make a dent in the algae, so they gave up. This stuff was driving me crazy as it seemed to permenently stain my aquarium glass like a stubborn hard water stain for months.
> 
> This is what finally worked for me and I am not saying that it will work 100% for others. I am just relating my experience. Frequent water changes did not make it go away, overdosing of excel did not make it go away, I already had C02 injection and it made no difference, everytime I scrapped it off with a credit card it came back.
> 
> I had ordered some barley straw to test as a algae preventative for another tank that I set up and since I had a lot left over, I decided what the heck. I put some in a pantyhose and clipped it to the top of the tank where it would be hit with the most water flow and light. Within 3-4 days clear spots began forming where the algae was(kind of like on a cold winter day when your glass is all fogged up and you turn up the heat and the fog starts to break up as clear spots form on the windshield). After about six weeks the glass is clear and the algae is all gone.


I don't have to use a credit card because the stuff is so tough, I just choose to use a credit card because it's handier than anything else. But haven't had any major problems with brown algae, at least not to the severe extent you describe; my fish have always come to my rescue at least with the brown stuff. The whole front of my tank was covered with it once but one pleco got it all under control within 48 hours. On the other hand my oto's aren't eating my gsa...


----------



## Red_Rose (Mar 18, 2007)

mistergreen said:


> I got the blue handle with the metal thing from petsmart.. It's great...
> You put little effort into scraping. It scraps green spotted algae really easy too.
> 
> it's like a razor but less dangerous and no scratching.


That's exactly what I was looking at. I'll buy it the next time I'm out there.


----------

