Getting rid of brown/diatom algae

[andysgirl8800]

That's a good plan. Just remember that the algae will be (hopefully) dying off in your tank, so you will want to watch your ammonia and phosphate levels during the blackout. As it starts to die, it will lose its hold on the surfaces that it is attached to. This is a good time to siphon it out of the tank.

 

[ltkenbo]

Ok, many times it will get sucked up by the overflow when this happens, so I will have to be sure to clean out my little filter sponge often.

 

[ltkenbo]

Ok so as far as this blackout goes, is there any special chemicals I need, like for pH drops like kalkwasser, and if so where can I get them? I was gone the last 2 days and I had my mom feed the fish for me, and the diatoms are looking a whole lot better. I figure a few days of blackout and a few more water changes might kill them off. I'd like to start this tomorrow so let me know what I need to do during the blackout.

 

[ltkenbo]

Anyone? I'd like to start this tomorrow if possible.

 

[Bifferwine]

Sorry I don't have an answer for you. I've never done anything to get rid of diatoms. They're not harmful, so why go out of my way to get rid of them, using methods that could be harmful? Diatoms will go away on their own in time. And once your tank matures, you'll probably never have to see them again.

 

[Bluespace]

I believe I set my tank up on Jan 18th of this yr. I've had the diatoms come and go three times already and I didn't change a thing. It comes with the turf of a new tank from what I understand.

 

[ltkenbo]

I'd change the subject of the thread if I could but I figured out they are dino's (read last 2 pages) and so I need to get rid of them ASAP. I'm going to do a blackout and just wondering if there is anything else I will need while leaving the lights off for all but an hour with actinics every day.

 

[Bifferwine]

AHHH OKAY! That's a whole different story then! Sorry.

Your pH will probably drop with the lights out. Plus, you will want to try to raise your pH anyways if you're fighting dinos. You should probably buy some Kalk.

 

[ltkenbo]

Is there any place other than fish stores or online that you can purchase it?

 

[Bifferwine]

Yeah, it's the same as pickling lime.

 

[ltkenbo]

And where can I get that?

 

[Bifferwine]

Walmart. In the canning food section. Maybe your average grocery store will carry it. Definitely international foods markets. But I know my local Walmart carries it.

 

[ltkenbo]

Alright sweet, I will have to check. How do add it and when exactly, should I just raise the pH, or wait for it to drop?

 

[ltkenbo]

So I went to walmart in town and they didn't have it and neither petco nor the local fish store had calcium hydroxide. But, petco did have this:

which says it increases pH and it also raises alkalinity (and mine is low) and I had enough money for it left on a petco gift card. So, what do you think? Can't hurt right?

 

[Smitty]

It should work, I've used that before to raise my ph on my last tank. Make sure you have a test kit, cause it will work quickly. Good luck

 

[ltkenbo]

K so I started adding some of it to my aquarium as directed. Measured pH first, it was super low, like 7.8, and the alkalinity was like 5.

 

[Bifferwine]

I've seen dynos on the back of my tank slowly appearing since I got my new lights. So far, they are only on the back glass and powerheads. I think I'm going to follow your lead and start raising the pH... :(

 

[ltkenbo]

Well I haven't seen a big change in pH, but it did increase alkalinity quite a bit.

 

[ltkenbo]

So how long should I do this blackout for? Is it stressful for the fish? I've been turning the actinics on just about 1 hour a day and feeding them. How long should I do this for, I also don't want to leave them off for too long cause of my corals. I've done it for 2 days so far.

 

[AHill40]

I coverd my tank for three days and used blankets to cover my tank letting no light in, of coure still letting some of the air to escape from the top and temps stay around 78. My fish and corals did fine and the brown diatoms were gone. Just make sure your tank is'nt around a lot of sun light. During noon some sun greeps in for a hour and a half and in that spot i notice there gets some brown diatoms.Ill be putting on some tin fowl on the window befor long. Like some one on here said I think it might have been biff Im not sure, that the ocean has a sort of black out during a major storm and some times hurricans cuase the ocian to be darkend for a few days....