Tank imbalance-Diatom Battle

[evonner]

My tank went through a 6 month shock of, not by my choice, of unattendance. I returned to the water mostly evaporated, my plants dead and decayed. Two fish had died, no one removed them. One guppy survived this ordeal and I'm pretty sure I know why. I chose to salvage the tank instead of restarting.  Now, I have a major case of diatom algae that I'm losing the war on. I have read and watched everything and I just don't know where to start. I have a variety of plants, most are showing signs of a potassium deficiency and possibly nitrogen and phosphate but I'm not sure. I do weekly water changes to remove some of the algae and clean the plants leaves. My lights are on a timer and I've cut back on feeding my guppies do they will graze on the algae. My water parameters are pretty consistent but I'm going to lose my plants if I can't figure out exactly how to balance this problem. I also have a piece of driftwood with an Anubias attached to it. The wood has a thick black slimy icky of something, maybe blackbeard? Here is some starter information: water tests, pH 8.2, ammonia/nitrates 0, nitrates 20, phosphate 1 ppm. 11 to 12 dGH and 7 to 8 dKH.  Using co-op root tabs and Easy green all in one fertilizer.  My tap water is pH 7.2, nitrates 5, phosphate 1, dGH 12, dKH 9. I look at this and wonder what is happening and not happening when I do a water change of 30%. I know there is much more info needed but I will start with this. I will attach some photos. This was the condition of my tank August 2, 2022.

[Starr22]

Oh my lord! good luck

[evonner]

Lol... This was in August. I found a live guppy in that mess. He is doing very well and has a new little schooling family.  My tank is in much better shape today. I've recently added even more plants to try to combat the algae diatoms. I will take some pictures tomorrow as my lights are off now.

[Mmiller2001]

Get in there and scrub what you can. Lower light intensity way down and do large water changes weekly. 50 percent weekly. Start dosing the tanks with an all in one fertilizer of your choice. Keep up on water changes. Clean your filters and keep an eye on ammonia and nitrites.

Might be advantageous to pull that fish out and the plants. Do a 100% water change to kick things off. If you gravel vacuum, do it lightly.

[evonner]

Here is my tank today. My water change is tomorrow so I have some diatoms really showing up. But I took it from the other pictures to this.  My substrate is stratum  capped with gravel.

[evonner]

So, in my original post, the pictures I attached were taken on 8/2/22, one day after I returned home. I was told prior to my return that my fish were dead and as you can see in the pictures, the condition of my tank, I was just devastated.  But when I found my one sole survivor in that yuk, I was moving quickly. I removed him and then proceeded to clean up my tank, preserving as much beneficial bacteria as I could salvage. This is why I am battling diatoms now. Based on the videos I have watched by Cory and Irene plus water change and plant deficiencies charts, I know I have an imbalance because the diatoms are not fixing themselves as Cory said in a video, lol.

I am running a HOB filter with custom media on one side of the tank and a bio sponge with an airstone on the other. 

Here is some information on my plants:

1) Aponogeton ulvaces, 2) Anubias frazeri 3) Java Fern, these are original plants that were still alive in the yuk. After the clean up, the Java fern was not thriving. It's attached to the ceramic log with an Anubias. Something in the log is sprouting new leaves. I don't know if the new growth is coming from the Java or Anubias but the new growth is healthy. The older leaves of the Anubias have pin holes and brown spots. The Aponogeton respouted after the tank clean up then melted back. It has one leaf left and it has pin holes, yellowish to color and translucent. 

On 9/27/22, I planted the following:

1) Anubias frazeri  2) Rosette Sword 3) Miniature drawf hair grass. The hair grass did not thrive and I removed it. The Anubias is attached to the driftwood. It has brown spots and pin holes on its leaves. The Sword has a few leaves that are completely yellow with brown patches and pin holes.

On 11/26/22, I planted:

1) Tiger Lotus bulb 2) Pogostemon Stellatus Octopus 3) Vallisneria. The Pogostemon has some pin holes.  The other two are doing well.

I know I have a potassium deficiency.  Irene says to increase fertilizer dosing but my fear is I dont want to also encourage the diatom growth. I also suspect a few plants may also have a nitrogen and/or phosphate deficiency but I'm sure.

My lights are on a timer and max lighting is 16 watts. It is adjustable. 

Now according to Aquarium co-ops charts on water changes and plant deficiencies, I should not be doing weekly water changes but I have to in order to control the amount of diatoms and clean my plants leaves. Now, how do I balance all this??

While I'm trying to figure all this out, my next move is to bring in a clean up crew of algae eaters.

[Mmiller2001]

You balance it by dosing a complete fertilizer, not having too strong of light and keep the tank clean with good flow and water turnover. 

Basically, with the disaster it was, you reset the tank and the initial algae cycle is starting over. 

If your plants have deficiencies, then that is contributing to algae. You will never solve an algae problem by starving your plants. All you are doing is killing the plants, and algae loves that. I would also try to get more plants in there. The single best defense against algae is healthy plants and a healthy plant load in conjunction with larger and regular water changes. Once the tank stabilizes, if you choose, you could try reducing water change frequency. But you have a ways to go yet.

You are on the right path. The tank looks a 1000% better.

Edited December 6, 2022 by Mmiller2001

[evonner]

Yes that is very consistent with what I have read.

I am doing 30% water changes weekly. Is that sufficient?

My HOB, filters up to 20 gallons and my tank is a 10 gallon. My airpump is wide open to my sponge filter with an airstone.

My last set of plants that I put in, I bought from Aquarium co-op along with root tabs and a bottle of easy green all in one liquid fertilizer. In today's pictures there are some more plants that you really can't see because the rock cave is blocking them.

Now the lighting, that's a complex one. From what I have read, 16 watts for a 10 gallon tank is considered low lighting. How much lighting should I be doing under this situation. 

Honestly, when I saw the condition of my tank, I was going to gut it and start over but another forum I'm in, gave me some other options so I chose to try to salvage this mess instead of having to cycle again. 

[Mmiller2001]

Watts per gallon is an old thing before the introduction of LEDs. So it's really hard to judge. If you see green dust algae, back it down by just a bit, say 5%. You will get a feel for it eventually. 

I would hold off on root tabs for now, use the EG first and let the tank get reestablished.

Filtration should be okay, just keep the filter clean and in good working order.

[evonner]

Yes that is very consistent with what I have read.

I am doing 30% water changes weekly. Is that sufficient?

My HOB, filters up to 20 gallons and my tank is a 10 gallon. My airpump is wide open to my sponge filter with an airstone.

My last set of plants that I put in, I bought from Aquarium co-op along with root tabs and a bottle of easy green all in one liquid fertilizer. In today's pictures there are some more plants that you really can't see because the rock cave is blocking them.

Now the lighting, that's a complex one. From what I have read, 16 watts for a 10 gallon tank is considered low lighting. How much lighting should I be doing under this situation. 

Honestly, when I saw the condition of my tank, I was going to gut it and start over but another forum I'm in, gave me some other options so I chose to try to salvage this mess instead of having to cycle again. 

[evonner]

Ok, been doing some research.  So, we know that brown algae (diatoms) are due to an imbalance in your tank.

I found what I think is my main problem that's causing the imbalance. My CO2 is low. I hooked up a Fluval CO2 Monitor this morning and it's reading low CO2.  I'm still researching to put this all together but I read that there is a relationship of CO2 and Nitrates.  I moved my sponge filter over closer to the middle to see if that would help. It didn't. Also, nitrogen, lighting and pH but I'm not targeting those right now.

Prior to getting the diatoms, my nitrates were consistently  between 5.0 to 10 ppm. But since the diatoms have moved in my nitrates are between 20 to 40 ppm. There is 5.0 ppm in my tap water. Also, my phosphate levels are 1.0 ppm and my tap has 1.0 ppm in it. I found this interesting as with the diatoms, I was expecting to see a high level.

I think I need to add CO2 to see if that helps my plants suffocate the diatoms.

There are two products I found, API CO2 Booster and Seachem Flourish Excel. Will these help and which one is best?

Low CO2, doesn't just grow algae, it kills your plants and fish. So I have to correct this asap.

There is also some low tech disposal systems like Fluval Pressurized CO2 Kit and some others like it. 

[Mmiller2001]

Are you injecting CO2?

[evonner]

Not currently. 

 

[Mmiller2001]

If you are not injecting CO2, then you will only have between 2 and 4 ppm CO2. You can't increase this by any other method other than through injection. CO2 is always the limiting factor in non injected CO2 tanks. So you must compensate by having lower light intensity and lower nutrients. But you must have enough of both nutrients and light to keep the plants healthy. This is the balance everyone talks about.

I'm not aware of any relationship between CO2 and Nitrates; except that one would assume more Nitrate uptake when more CO2 is available. Faster growth would require more nutrient uptake.

[evonner]

I found a chart in a members journal.  I have seen this chart before. The chart is based on KH and pH. I'm having to guess because my pH exceeds the chart. My dKH is 7 and my pH is 8.2, 

On the chart if I had a pH of 8.0, I would be  in between 1.8 and 2.3 ppm if my pH were 8.0. I would be lucky if I'm at 1 ppm. According to this chart, I really need to get my pH down in order to have a better natural CO2 level. Fluval makes a CO2 kit for beginners.  Fluval Mini Pressurized CO2 Kit, CO2 Supplement for Planted Aquariums, 20 grams, A7540 https://a.co/d/iTp2Z54

I did a 30% water change on 12/7, my pre-testing nitrates were at 40 ppm. Today 12/10, my nitrates are 20 ppm. I am dosing Easy Green liquid once a week. 

This is what i have learned, diatoms can be caused my excess silicates.  Silicates can be in your tap water. I order a test kit.  Diatoms love to eat nitrates, it's a steak dinner with a side of steroids.  So nitrates must be kept less than 20 ppm. High Phosphates can be a cause but my tap water has 1.0 ppm and that doesn't change in my tank.  Recommend phosphate for a Planted tank is 1.5 to 3 ppm.  Diatoms thrives on low lighting. They like stagnant water. I have already increased water flow and cut back on feedings and doing all the recommended things.

I bought a UV Sterilizer, that should help.

I'm concerned about my fish with such a low CO2 ppm.  I am concerned about my plants. Increasing their nutrients just creates the problems to be worse. Another recommendation was to use RO water. I may consider a tap water/RO ratio slowly after I can pin down what my imbalance problems are. Doing the tap/RO, I have done before to slowly bring down my pH. 

Can somebody help me to understand lighting? That's another variable I have to consider in this mess.

 

 

[Mmiller2001]

You're a little off on your reading. Lowering pH dose not increase CO2. You must inject CO2 to raise CO2. Fertilizer does not cause algae.

This tank is kept at 30ppm NO3, 10ppm of P and 30ppm K. As you can see, it's pristine.

[Mmiller2001]

I'd like to share a site to you created by Dennis Wong. He's one of the best, and recommend you read his learn section. I've read everything multiple times and always reread the learn section every few months.

https://www.2hraquarist.com/

[evonner]

I was actually at his site and reading just a little while ago. That's weird. 

I dosed my tank tonight with fertilizer again to bring my nitrates higher.

[Mmiller2001]

For your tank, I would stay around 15 ppm NO3. I was just giving you an example of how fertilizer, at very high loads, doesn't cause algae. I should have been clearer. 

If you add more plants, you will be in a good spot. Keep at it.

 

[evonner]

Well I did that based on a ton of stuff I read. My plants need to be healthier to combat the diatoms issues. But dosing it made the diatoms very bad today.  Most of my plants are new and their getting bombarded with diatoms.  I think I'm gonna have to do my w.c. early this week. My UV Sterilizer should arrive tomorrow.  

[evonner]

What I meant is that according to the chart I posted,  if my pH and KH were within the recommended ranges then I would have better natural CO2 levels without injecting CO2. 

[Mmiller2001]

The pH and KH has no influence on CO2. You will only have 2 to 3, maybe 4 ppm CO2 without injection. 

[evonner]

Mmiller2001,

Have you ever seen this chart while in the hobby? I have awhile ago and then on a member from here in his "My Tank Journal". There is a connection of pH, KH and CO2.  According to this chart based on my pH and KH levels, my CO2 is less than should be without co2 injections. I will upload the chart again.  

[evonner]

Your tank is beautiful.  Do you use CO2? All I have been doing is researching. My weekly water change is tomorrow but I'm doing it today. After I initially cleaned up the disaster my tank was in, I've been doing 30% weekly water changes. Today, I'm going to do a 50%. I have very good flow in the tank and both filters are doing their job. Lowering my lights doesn't help diatom blooms.  Lowering the light will actually make them reproduce faster. Lowering lighting works for the other types of algae.  I need to lower my nitrate levels too as diatoms blooms big time with higher nitrates.  My UV sterilizer should arrive today. It's delivery got delayed do to the storms. I live in Idaho and it's pretty wicked out there. These are the only things I can do to eradicate the diatoms.  I have to do that first before I can help my plants. 

[Mmiller2001]

On 12/13/2022 at 9:38 AM, evonner said:

Mmiller2001,

Have you ever seen this chart while in the hobby? I have awhile ago and then on a member from here in his "My Tank Journal". There is a connection of pH, KH and CO2.  According to this chart based on my pH and KH levels, my CO2 is less than should be without co2 injections. I will upload the chart again.  

Yes, I believe I posted the algae chart in my journal. Can't remember if I posted a CO2 chart. I'm old...