egkilmon

Diatom, oh diatom, you turn my green plants to brown,
Diatom, oh diatom, you really make me frown.
Diatom, oh diatom, I know you're not "bad",
But diatom, oh diatom, you make me so sad.
Diatom, oh diatom, my cories munch on you.
Diatom, oh diatom, why must you stick like glue?

Ok, so I'm no Longfellow, but the diatoms in my tank inspired me this morning. Just felt like sharing.

haedra

I have felt your pain. My tank has since moved on to green, furry algae.

You are lucky if your cories eat it. Mine didn't.

egkilmon

Yeah, my DG even picks a little at them. I know not all cories will eat diatoms, and not all 9 of mine do. But at least I've got a little help in the war.

jgon_

Oh diatoms, how I hate hate hate you!

On a related note - all my tanks seem to get a thin brown scum or gunk algae that builds up on the glass. Except when I remove it, it has to be scratched off with some force unlike diatoms which wipe away nicely. Any idea what this is or how to control it? None of my algae eaters can seem to scrape it off.

haedra

I am not sure about that, either. I have seen it too, just not very often. Same thing here, it doesn't just smear right off. I didn't have that problem in the 10 gallon, but my betta tanks have seen it.

jgon_

And another thing about diatoms...!
They are common in new tanks. The best way to get rid of them is with otos. But ottos need an established tank! Grrr
They are rampant in my brackish tank which is well established but there's nothing I can add to eat it, or else it becomes puffer lunch! Grrrr!

pinkfloydpuffer

Ah yes.... brackish tanks are particularly nasty when it comes to algae for some reason... -_-
My 80g still has diatoms EVERYWHERE!!! It's been set up since January...

egkilmon

Well, after much patience and learning not to scrub them all out at once, only a few blooms left here and there and my water has never been so clear (even on day 1 with no fish in it!). Just goes to show how long it really can take to get a truly, fully established tank. I wouldn't have been able to do it without FL!

iloveengl

That was excellent, Pitabread!

I look forward to the diatom eulogy.