# Monte Carlo Carpet: Diatoms, Melt or Both?



## Nyewchu (Oct 29, 2017)

Howdy Folks!

Monte Carlo Diatoms, Melt or Both?

So I’ve been having troubles with brown algae/Diatoms since flooding this tank 4 weeks ago. This was a dry started tank initially.

Is the browning the melt from going emersed to submerged? Or is this the nasty Diatoms/brown algae covering my Monte Carlo, or is it both? You can see it on my S. Repens too...

Whatever the case, should I trim it away on the Monte Carlo? What advice can you offer? I added some Oto Catfish and Cherry Red shrimp to my tank yesterday to start a cleanup crew as well.

I have my lights on 8 hrs a day, CO2 injected, and I fert with Aquarium Coop Easy Green twice a week for a 20 gallon long.

Any insight and advice is greatly appreciated!

Here is a picture I took of my Monte Carlo yesterday afternoon.


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## Slushbob (Dec 12, 2016)

The red cherry shrimp and ottos should help, my RCS always eat brown algae fast. 
maybe an amano shrimp or two... would be beneficial. 
Im curious what others say as I will be flooding my dwarf baby tears carpet in the next few weeks.


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## voyetra8 (Sep 24, 2010)

Looks like diatoms - especially since it's on the rock too. Can you brush it off with your finger? If so, it's diatoms. 

I wish I had a better solution for you, but the only way I've found to deal with them, aside from "waiting it out" is to use the hydrogen peroxide 1-2 punch: http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/23-algae/203684-one-two-punch-whole-tank-algae-treatment.html


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## Nyewchu (Oct 29, 2017)

Hmm, yeah I can dust it from the rocks, but dusting from the MC is pretty difficult. I even bought a bushy soft brush and while it helps I'm scared to damage the MC. 

Will the hydrogen peroxide hurt my plants?


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## voyetra8 (Sep 24, 2010)

Nyewchu said:


> Hmm, yeah I can dust it from the rocks, but dusting from the MC is pretty difficult. I even bought a bushy soft brush and while it helps I'm scared to damage the MC.
> 
> Will the hydrogen peroxide hurt my plants?


If you follow the instructions, you'll be fine! H2O2 breaks down to plain old water, so you'd have to really really REALLY screw things up to cause issues, IMO. 

I've used it in a tank with fissidens / stauro and personally didn't have any issues.


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## Nyewchu (Oct 29, 2017)

voyetra8 said:


> If you follow the instructions, you'll be fine! H2O2 breaks down to plain old water, so you'd have to really really REALLY screw things up to cause issues, IMO.
> 
> I've used it in a tank with fissidens / stauro and personally didn't have any issues.


Hmm...So once I spray them it will just come off on its own? If so I'm game to try it.


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## voyetra8 (Sep 24, 2010)

Nyewchu said:


> Hmm...So once I spray them it will just come off on its own? If so I'm game to try it.



I'd follow the instructions closely - there is no spraying involved - just adding H2O2 to the tank for a few mins and doing a water change. 

I had a HUGE problem with diatoms with my tank when I lived in Los Angeles. While I'm not 100% sure it was related - the water there was hard as a rock. The 1-2 punch was only thing that helped when the diatoms were choking out my plants.


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## iceburg (Jan 30, 2015)

In addition to using the H2O2 I would suggest hovering a gravel vacuum just barely above the MC the next day to suck up the dead diatoms. If you don't remove them they will just become nutrients for more diatoms and other algae. I'm guessing that since you did a dry start your MC should be well rooted enough to not be sucked up, but you could test it in one corner before moving on to the rest just to be safe.


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