gremlin

A pothos or some floating plants would work then. Water lettuce may work as a floating plant.

bhaskarmv

Hi Aspects

We have contrary views on Diatoms.
Diatoms are the best type of algae for fish.
They increase Dissolved Oxygen level and are the preferred food for fish.
We are promoting an unique new invention that causes a bloom of Diatoms in any type of water - home aquariums to oceans.
When Diatoms bloom the water becomes cleaner and other algae are under control, there would be no smell, the electric aerator and filters can be switched off or use reduced substantially(about 50%), other feed can be reduced by about 50%.

Nualgi contains Silica, Iron and other micro nutrients required by Diatoms - all these are in nano size for easy consumption by Diatoms.



best regards

Bhaskar

Shawnie

welcome to fishlore bhaskarmv!!! ive edited your thread and great information to add..thank you!

sirdarksol

I agree with bhaskarmv. Diatoms aren't harmful to fish. They're present in spades in many MN lakes, and don't hurt fishing one bit. I've had them in each of my tanks, and I've never lost a fish to the bloom.
They don't produce silicates, they actually use them (this is why the bloom eventually ends; there's not enough silicates for the diatoms to create their shells).
Whether diatoms are or aren't algae is up for debate, though several university studies I've found rank them with algae. They possess bacteria-like properties, but they have cell walls, which are normally only found in plants. They photosynthesize (another algae/bacteria does this; cyanobacteria), as well.

gremlin

Maybe they are the "missing link" between bacteria, algae, and plants?

sirdarksol

Quite possibly. They could also just be a random shift into something that would work in a given environment.

And: My answer to the original question is; algae only becomes bad when it overwhelms the tank (not just covering things, but starting to muck up the water itself). At this point, when the algae goes into oxygen-use mode, it can suffocate the fish. It can even make swimming difficult (I lost a neon tetra to a clump of hair algae).

bhaskarmv

Diatoms are the most recently evolved group of algae.

Their silica shell perhaps makes them the most efficient -
in terms of CO2 consumed during photosynthesis,
Oxygen during respiration and
sunlight utilization.

One theory is that Diatoms are responsible for most of the fossil petroleum in the world.
Millions of tons of Diatomaceous Earth all over the world indicates that the lipids inside the silica shell oozed out and could have become petroleum.

Diatoms certainly are the preferred food by fish and shrimp.

sirdarksol

Gonna have to disagree with this. There are very few fish and shrimp, even among the algae-eating sort, that will consume diatoms. That's why they're so hard to get rid of during the diatom bloom stage in an aquarium.

josh11551

i agree with tony IMO any algae is bad algae