On Oct 22, 8:42 am, "Aiptasia" <supp...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
> It sounds to me like diatom algae. Diatoms are eukariotic single celled
> algaes that thrive in silicate rich water. It's a brown algae that looks
> like dust or rust and covers anything and everything as it grows. If you
are
> using rain water for your tanks then the silicates aren't coming from
your
> water. It's probably because you used silica sand as your substrate
instead
> of quartzite sand, which has no silicates. You have two options, you can
> introduce more janitors to help you which will eat it, or you can break
down
> the tank and re-do the substrate. The second option is a huge pain but
may
> be the only way to eliminate diatom algaes from this setup.
>
> The best janitors that I know of for diatom outbreaks in freshwater
tanks
> are olive nerite snails. Olive nerites are actually a brackish water
species
> of snail that can survive in freshwater. The advantages they have over
other
> snails. They don't usually eat green plants (just algaes) unless those
> plants have very sensitive or soft leaf structures (ex: Cabomba, Ambula,
> etc.). They will however graze diatoms and other algaes off of plant
leaves
> without harming them. They require brackish water to reproduce, so if
you
> have them in fresh water, their eggs never mature and develop into baby
> snails. This keeps their populations in check. They're tough as nails
and
> can survive temperatures from 50f to 100f.
>
> They're a small snail, for a 55 gallon tank i'd suggest about a dozen or
so.
> If you have trouble locating them, surf over towww.franksaquarium.com.
> Frank usually has them in stock. I love them, and have them in just
about
> every tank I have.
>
>
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Thanks Aiptasia.
I did some research on diatom algae, and I'm almost certain this is my
problem.
I should have done some more research on my substrate. I'm almost
sure it was the sand I used. I will definitly try these nerite snails
before doing the unimaginable. Another person also told me to try a
few Otto Cats with these snails, which may speed up recovery.
Thanks again for the info, and links!
Newbie
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