I have to agree with the 'more light' suggestion for controlling diatom growth, but also agree that it does seem a bit backwards. It does sound as though more light would help because the higher amount/longer duration of light would promote other algae growth, which can 'out-compete' for the nutrients diatoms need to thrive upon - which again, seems a little bit backwards to some extent seeing as how its like trading one problem for another, especially if we cannot find the happy medium between having enough light for diatom 'control' while having too little light for green algae to grow in abundance.
it is pretty common in newer tanks. it's nothing to be alarmed about.
I also have to agree with the notion that diatoms are probably an issue which is more common in newly established tanks (aka, an unbalanced ecosystem), however, they are not entirely limited in this way and can be present in very well established tanks as well - so, for those who may qualify as having this problem in an established tank, this does not necessarily mean you are doing something completely wrong. But yes, I completely agree, nothing to be alarmed about, nor a sign towards needing to take drastic measures.
if you have no live plants, then do a black-out. leave the lights off for a day or so
To add to the 'backwards' theme of this thread, I can say that I have performed blackouts on a previously planted tank with little to no detriment to my plants (albeit, 'beginner' type plants). I also would add that, many hobbyists, including myself, would suggest performing the blackout over a period of 72 hours rather than 24 hours - which includes covering the tank in a less-than-airtight fashion so that no light whatsoever reaches the tank...and in most cases, you can skip feeding the fish entirely for this period of time, which is beneficial because it helps ensure that while nutrients are being used up, little to no nutrients are being added, further breaking the 'chain' of items diatoms/algae need to survive. The absolute last thing I suggest doing is to use any sort of algae-cide type product (e.g. algone) because these can lean to much more than algae being all gone. While I realize I contradict myself here, I recently used algone in my livebearer breeding tank, which did work, but even though I had removed all of the fish during the 'treatment', once placed back in the tank, I have been losing copious amounts of fry despite large water changes - which is really not much more than my own experience and not empirical proof that these products are completely bad, but I feel as though it is something worth mentioning.
otoclincus fish are very good brown algae eaters.
The second to last thing I might suggest is to purchase algae eaters as a 'cure' to diatoms or any algae for that matter....but only because many of us do not realize that even though there may be tons of visible algae/diatoms in the tank, they may not be the exact type which one algae eater or another might eat, and/or once the algae/diatoms are reduced to less-than-adequate levels, many of us forget that we have to supplement the algae eater's diet....which is also not to mention that, once the algae/diatoms are gone, then the reasoning for having the algae eater is significantly reduced. Make sense? Don't get me wrong though, oto cats are great fish without doubt, and I do have about five of them right now, but I do not keep them for their ability to perform a task, but simply because they are cool little fish that come with added benefits.
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