# Diatoms, not going away. How do I get rid of them?



## ChrisRhysHarris (Jun 11, 2015)

Hi all,

I have Diatoms. I have read that they come with a new tank and go away after a while. I set up my tank 16th Feb 2015, it is now 11th June 2015. And I still have them, maybe a bit worse.
What is the cause of Diatoms and how can I get rid of them as I do not think they are going away?
If you need information on my tank let me know.

Thanks, much appreciated for the advice guys.


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## Octantis (Jan 9, 2014)

I have 3 tanks of which only 2 had diatom issues. The one that didn't is a 4 gallon betta tank that gets too much sun, has other algae issues, and has fake plants.

For the two remaining tanks the diatoms left once the plant matter hit some unknown threshold. When the plants were babies I had diatoms everywhere. Once my java ferns took off and anubias matured one day it just stopped. Well how about subsided. They still show up in the corners but not on the leaves proper.

As far as cleaning goes here is how I went about doing it. I cut up an old TShirt into squares, wrapped a square around my thumb, and tied it off with a hair elastic. Then I could just run my thumb and forefinger along the plant and all the diatoms would come right off. You can even use the method to scrape off green spot algae but only on tough leaves like an anubias.

As for how long it took for the diatoms to go away. For my bigger heavier planted tank about 2 months. For my lightly planted 3 gallon tank about 9 months.


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## Midnighttide102 (Oct 2, 2014)

If your diatoms haven't gone away by now you should really check your source water for silicates , silicates is the major cause of diatoms there are silicate removers you can add in your filter also do a search on barley straw for removal of diatoms and back off on your feeding a bit it will help


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## Zoomy (Sep 13, 2014)

Yep, I have had even really bad diatoms nearly disappear within a day or two of adding a phosphate/silicate absorber to my filter...this was true with my 5g nano and my new 50g.


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## BigXor (Dec 15, 2014)

If none of the above is effective, I put a bunch of little Horned Nerite Snails in my 38 gal planted tank, and they cleaned house. They are little, but are some serious algae eating machines.


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## Midnighttide102 (Oct 2, 2014)

Ottocinclus catfish are masters at eating the diatoms but you really want to find out why you have them not just cover up the prob


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## Mikeygmzmg (Mar 19, 2015)

+1 ^ Ottos! They work wonders.


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