Diatom Breakout

[ess17]

Ok, Everything in my tank has turned a nasty rust brown. Is there a snail that will eat this, or is there anything I can do to reduce the amount I have? I have used only RO water but figured I would go through a wave of this stuff. Should I put any extra media in my filter? Right now I have a Chemi Pure bag and some sponges which I change at least once every two weeks. It got much worse when I put my new compact lighting on last weekend. I have to magfloat the glass every night.

Thanks!

 

[maestro]

How long has your tank been setup?

 

[steelhealr]

If this is a new tank, it's normal to get an initial wave of diatoms. Margarita and trochus snails are good glass cleaners. You'll need a scraper or Magfloat to clean the glass. One thing that may help is that if you scrape just before a water change, with the pumps off, you might reduce the load by vacuuming it out while it is in suspension. SH

 

[ess17]

My tank has been set up for 6 weeks. I have been magfloating like crazy, but I will beef up the cleaning crew tonight. My LFS doesn't see the need for one snail/hermit per gallon, but how do others feel that is working out for them? I feel like I need to add more, but don't want the little critters to starve either

 

[parker313]

I have in my 10g...

5 blue leg hermits
1 red leg hermit
3 cerith snails
3 nassarius snails
1 bumlebee snail
1 margarita snail
1 astrea snail

I have lost only one snail and the astrea and margarita snails have been with me from the beginning

 

[Chac]

I persoanlly would leave it as it will clear in a week or so, I had to clean my glass everynight but it did go.

 

[steelhealr]

My 24G includes:

5 astrea
5 Nassarius
2 Trochus
2 Margaritas
2 Scarlet hermits
2 Blue Leg Hermits
1 Skunk Cleaner
1 Emerald Crab

SH