Fluval clean and clear to lower Phosphates and diatoms

I had to add crushed coral as the water is incredibly soft in this area. I also changed my substrate from gravel to sand. I have had diatom problems ever since. Bought some otos that devoured the diatoms but they sadly died. I have four nerite snails but the diatoms are covering the plants quite badly. On some plants its getting hairy on the ends. Looks like dust in the tank. I do rub it best I can when doing a water change. Would adding the fluval clean and clear cartridge to my filter cause any issues. Says it is a resin pad which lowers phosphate and nitrate. Would this cause any harm to fish, snails, plants. Its a well planted tank. Could the diatoms be causing my pH to lower? Its hard finding a balance when I need to buffer the water for a stable pH!

 

I have 7 planted tanks all with a little extra algae. Personally if not out of control I think it looks kinda natural as well as lots of animals will eat.

I personally wouldn't ad extra cartridge. Yes when waterchange just rub your plants clean. I do this when mine get worse than I like

I had to add crushed coral as the water is incredibly soft in this area. I also changed my substrate from gravel to sand. I have had diatom problems ever since. Bought some otos that devoured the diatoms but they sadly died. I have four nerite snails but the diatoms are covering the plants quite badly. On some plants its getting hairy on the ends. Looks like dust in the tank. I do rub it best I can when doing a water change. Would adding the fluval clean and clear cartridge to my filter cause any issues. Says it is a resin pad which lowers phosphate and nitrate. Would this cause any harm to fish, snails, plants. Its a well planted tank. Could the diatoms be causing my pH to lower? Its hard finding a balance when I need to buffer the water for a stable pH!

Ps they are not causing ph to lower. My ph is 8 and I have diatoms and other algae

 

Its on the plants I dont like it as some of them seem to be struggling. I rub it off and the next day its back and worse!

 

Sadly I know what you are dealing with. I have sand substrate in my 29 since I set it up over two years ago. The black diatoms are really bad, and have been for a very long time in my tank. Sand it seems is connected to diatoms. That is why I went with pea gravel in my 55 gallon tank.

I once did a really radical scrub of the tank in an attempt to get rid of the darn stuff. But all that happened was my fish started dying off. The diatoms grew right back, and have been bad ever since. So I gave up an ignored the stuff, just leaving it alone. The fish don't seem to mind, and the plants are surviving. My anubias is covered causing the leaves to look black instead of green.

For as I know all you can do is try and keep adding stock that will eat it.

 

Its on the plants I dont like it as some of them seem to be struggling. I rub it off and the next day its back and worse!

What size tanks?
Water perameters?
Do you know TDS of your tap?
Do you feed plants?
Why don't you think they are healthy?
How much light a day? (I have 3 sides of my tanks blacked out to help

Here are pics of 2 tanks I have that both have algae that I think is manageable. Both tanks have snails and a bristlenose

 

Had you ever tried removing the silicates? With a resin or clean and clear pad etc?

 

I had to add crushed coral as the water is incredibly soft in this area. I also changed my substrate from gravel to sand. I have had diatom problems ever since. Bought some otos that devoured the diatoms but they sadly died. I have four nerite snails but the diatoms are covering the plants quite badly. On some plants its getting hairy on the ends. Looks like dust in the tank. I do rub it best I can when doing a water change. Would adding the fluval clean and clear cartridge to my filter cause any issues. Says it is a resin pad which lowers phosphate and nitrate. Would this cause any harm to fish, snails, plants. Its a well planted tank. Could the diatoms be causing my pH to lower? Its hard finding a balance when I need to buffer the water for a stable pH!

I think there is an imbalance somewhere if your getting huge blooms

 

Ita 125L/33US gallon. The ammonia and nitrite is 0, nitrate is usually around 4, ph is usually 7 but 6.8 today. Temp is usually 24C but its 27C due to a heatwave. What is TDS. I have recently been using fertilizer but even without it was the same. The light is on between 8 and 10 hours a day

The only thing I've done is add crushed coral to raise ph which I did months ago. The usual tests, ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and ph are always flawlewss. Only thing I don't test is phosphates

 

Ita 125L/33US gallon. The ammonia and nitrite is 0, nitrate is usually around 4, ph is usually 7 but 6.8 today. Temp is usually 24C but its 27C due to a heatwave. What is TDS. I have recently been using fertilizer but even without it was the same. The light is on between 8 and 10 hours a day

Cut down to 6 or 7 hrs light it will help ALOT if I ran 10 hrs light I would be farming algae lol. TDS (total disolved solids)or PPM (parts per million)is testing how much stuff is in your water soft vs hard (well part of that).

My TDs is 440ppm and 8ph(LOTS!!!) so with high TDs I don't need to dose plants hardly ever. Because all the micro and macro notes in my tap already. If I does I get issues due to overfeeding. I do use root tabs 2 times a year.

Little things like learning your tap will help you with plants in tank as your water is different than mine

 

The water is incredibly soft round here. The gh and kh was very low to zero. That is why I am using crushed coral to maintain the stable ph

 

M

The water is incredibly soft round here. The gh and kh was very low to zero. That is why I am using crushed coral to maintain the stable ph

My suggestion is less light for algae but I can't speak on your water. Sorry. I have never dealt with soft water

 

I'm guessing changing gravel to sand and adding crushed coral has raised phosphates. I need the crushed coral. Il give it another few weeks/month and if need be il have to start testing for phosphates

 

Sirsou stone will raise p.h dramatically apparenty.
Try one of those,as for your algae other than what was stated with your lighting time, get a pleco.
And get more snails...my mystery snails and 2 common plecos keep my 135 gallon tank pristine with natural algae here and there that they dont bother with for some reason....and this tank is outdoor on my back patio.
Natural light during the day and u run a red light at night with a u.v sterilizer to keep the green water at bay.

 

I'm guessing changing gravel to sand and adding crushed coral has raised phosphates. I need the crushed coral. Il give it another few weeks/month and if need be il have to start testing for phosphates

How old is this tank?

 

Six months. Sand added about two months ago