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Damon · 02-08-2006, 10:02 AM

No. I didn't say that your diatoms were cause by inadequate lighting. That is one possibility........................
FOr a long time, people believed PO4 (phosphate) was the cause of algae. This, in recent years has been proven to not be the case. Bear with me.......
Algae (microphytes) can use nutrients that we cannot readily test for (pbb).
Even if you lower po4, there will still be enough for algae to thrive on. Algae has to be triggered to establish itself in the home aquaria. Whether it be stirring up the substrate (releasing NH4 which is the no. 1 cause of greenwater), or overfeeding or whatnot. There has to be an imbalance in your aquarium whether it be planted or not. You will find that myself and many others actually add PO4 and No3 to our tanks on a daily basis. Overdosing these has never lead to algae outbreaks. Only when one is depleted does algae gain a foothold.

Anywho back to diatoms...........
At least one study have shown that diatoms store phosphate in sufficient quantities to provide for 100 subsequent generations.

Source: Chuck Huffine on APD 10/01

Harass the algae. Manually remove what you can. Keep up with the water changes. Clean filters. Make your tank undesireable for the algae and it will leave you alone.
Note: There are about 10,000 species of diatoms found in nature. Fortunately very few inhabit tanks and these tend to perfer low light.

02-08-2006, 10:02 AM	#6
Damon Aquatic Naturalist Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Dayton, Ohio Age: 32 Posts: 14,972	No. I didn't say that your diatoms were cause by inadequate lighting. That is one possibility........................ FOr a long time, people believed PO4 (phosphate) was the cause of algae. This, in recent years has been proven to not be the case. Bear with me....... Algae (microphytes) can use nutrients that we cannot readily test for (pbb). Even if you lower po4, there will still be enough for algae to thrive on. Algae has to be triggered to establish itself in the home aquaria. Whether it be stirring up the substrate (releasing NH4 which is the no. 1 cause of greenwater), or overfeeding or whatnot. There has to be an imbalance in your aquarium whether it be planted or not. You will find that myself and many others actually add PO4 and No3 to our tanks on a daily basis. Overdosing these has never lead to algae outbreaks. Only when one is depleted does algae gain a foothold. Anywho back to diatoms........... At least one study have shown that diatoms store phosphate in sufficient quantities to provide for 100 subsequent generations. Source: Chuck Huffine on APD 10/01 Harass the algae. Manually remove what you can. Keep up with the water changes. Clean filters. Make your tank undesireable for the algae and it will leave you alone. Note: There are about 10,000 species of diatoms found in nature. Fortunately very few inhabit tanks and these tend to perfer low light. __________________ For in much wisdom [is] much grief: and he that increaseth knowledge increaseth sorrow. Member of the AGA (Aquatic Gardner's Association) Member of the IBC (International Betta Congress)