Plants covered in diatoms

I have a couple plants that the leaves are covered in diatoms. So I was wondering if I could take the plants out of the tank and wash them off in treated water in the sink? That way I'm not just brushing the diatoms off back into the tank.

 

I am new to plants myself, but have been told to use peroxide. Some people turn off filtration and squirt it full strength directly on the plant. Others take out the plant and dip it in peroxide. I am not sure if it should be diluted so hopefully an expert will chime in.
DO NOT use the same method I did with bleach. That killed my java moss.

 

The diatoms will only keep coming back. What's your nitrate reading? Is the tank heavily stocked?

Best advise is to get your hand in there during a water change and gently rub all the leaves. The diatoms will come right off; and you'll remove quite a bit in your water change. The problem with taking them out is uprooting them. Some plants should not be moved around especially if they've rooted.

 

It's your light cycle and your nutrient balance. My tank has diatoms, black water with Maine light. Photo period of 9 hour days.
I removed my decaying leaves and diatoms decreased.

 

Nitrates stay under 20
My stock is 6 cory cats, 1 dwarf gourami, 4 guppies, 2 balloon belly mollies and 1 nerite snail
live plants amazon swords, bacopa caroliniana and hygrophila polysperma
40 gallon tank
When I do my weekly water changes I try to clean off as many of the leaves as possible. I have my light on roughly 8 hours a day but it does get a lot of natural light.

 

Your profile indicates that you just got started in the aquarium hobby. I assume that the tank you are working with is also fairly new?

If this is the case, then your tank is likely going through a normal break in period. During the first few months of running a tank it is pretty normal to experience a diatom bloom. Unfortunately this may not be your desired answer, but in my experience there's not much you'll be able to do to stop the diatoms except letting it run its course. This is due to the fact that diatoms consume silicate, which is present in nearly all water, even tap.

As lfabb indicated, your best bet is to rub them off of plants as you perform water changes. You'll find as time goes on that less and less will occur as the tank becomes more established.

I have found that additional water movement, and ramped up filtration will aid in keeping the diatoms from establishing on decor, plants, etc. It won't necessarily stop the diatoms from forming, just stop them from forming on your nice looking stuff .

 

I recommend possibly adding some Otocinclus to eat the diatom algae while figuring out how to balance your aquarium to minimize algae growth.

 

I am experiencing the same problem on well established tanks that I just changed lights and added live plants. I am using the blue shop paper towels that hold up really well in water to wipe down everything and added nerite snails that are attacking it.
I also added Phosguard to the filter. I am considering a split light schedule as well.

 

I removed all my decorations and scrubbed them and have left them out for now and cleaned almost all off my plants. I also have a nerite snail that is doing his best. And I can honestly say I have seen a decrease.

 

Had the same problem for a few months. Deep cleaning everything helps and makes a dent but it keeps coming back it seems like. I got mine under control by doing a deep clean (including scrubbing my HOB filter and rinsing the pad in old tank water). My amano didn't really make a dent at all, however my nerite is awesome at cleaning everything up. I still have to wipe down the plants with my finger/old toothbrush, but that's easy (at least in my setup).