anyone ever let brown algae cover all sides of aquarium?

[Gourami Swami]

I didn't want to point any fingers at anyone with my above comment. It seems I have offended some but diatoms are related to ammonia levels/bioload and can be very easily reproduced if one wanted to. Has anyone ever kept fry and fed them on the heavy side? Or has anyone done a complete makeover of a planted tank and stirred up some gunk from the substrate? Or has anyone set up a new tank and faced the famous regular diatom outbreak that comes with new setups?

There is ammonia 24/7 in a fish tank, so when one claims they've got zero ammonia, its unrealistic. One can only claim they had zero ammonia at the moment they tested the tank. Ammonia goes up and down, depending on the bioload and efficiency of filtration, tank set up, etc...Diatoms is reality of fish tanks. There's no offence meant. My advice is to consider diatoms as a sign of heavy bioload/possible mini spikes. If that's not the case, great, only time will tell.

No offense taken here either, I can appreciate a good scientific conversation without reading into it too much. I do think that ammonia/nitrite/nitrate, while they are the most prevalent levels to test for because of how important the nitrogen cycle is, may not tell 100% of the full story. Since diatoms' cellular structure is itself composed of silica, it would make sense to me that excess silicates in tap water could contribute to high amounts of diatoms. As they feed through photosynthesis, I would also bet that the amount of sunlight or artificial light the tank receives plays a large part in the population of diatoms as well. So to me, a large diatoms population does not necessarily always indicate water that is "dirty" or unsafe for fish, when there are other factors that probably affect pop. growth as well.
Just speculation here, disclaimer that my degree is in business, not marine botany.

 

[FreshyFresh]

I always let the back glass grow wild on my tanks, but in one of my 55's, the two bristle nose plecos in there cleaned it better than a scraping would do.

 

[cigars]

View attachment 1294538
Before View attachment 1294539 View attachment 1294540
About 18 months later, with salt water reef led, fixture.

I have followed your threads in the algae scrubbers and found them extremely interesting,

 

[Gourami Swami]

View attachment 1294538
Before View attachment 1294539 View attachment 1294540
About 18 months later, with salt water reef led, fixture.

I dig this setup. The algae really makes the foam look like natural rocks, and i'm sure if you were to buy large fake rocks with those holes in them, they would be pricey.

 

[Adictd2Fsh]

I never clean it and I use finnex 24/7 lighting


Your bass are beautiful, they don't look stressed or freaked out, but 24/7 lighting on them probably not very nice. They probably want to relax under some darkness. The algae will grow just fine if not better under 12 on 12 off or 16 on 8 off cycle just like any other plant. If you did 8on 16 off You can add nitrogen and vitamin supplements that you would add to a planted tank. But I think our fish need some down time. Check this out. http://www.tropicalfishsite.com/how-to-promote-algae-growth-in-the-home-aquarium/

 

[Adictd2Fsh]

Your bass are beautiful, they don't look stressed or freaked out, but 24/7 lighting on them probably not very nice. They probably want to relax under some darkness. The algae will grow just fine if not better under 12 on 12 off or 16 on 8 off cycle just like any other plant. If you did 8on 16 off You can add nitrogen and vitamin supplements that you would add to a planted tank. But I think our fish need some down time.

 

[cigars]

Your bass are beautiful, they don't look stressed or freaked out, but 24/7 lighting on them probably not very nice. They probably want to relax under some darkness. The algae will grow just fine if not better under 12 on 12 off or 16 on 8 off cycle just like any other plant. If you did 8on 16 off You can add nitrogen and vitamin supplements that you would add to a planted tank. But I think our fish need some down time.

Will do thank you, the lighting dims to all moon lighting automatically I’m sure that’s probably not good either

 

[Coryloach]

Well, lets post a picture of my beautiful tank, ha, ha

Joke aside, biofilm/Periphyton/Aufwuchs, as long as it is not excessive as to affect oxygen levels, etc.., can actually have a positive effect. It plays an important role in water quality by absorbing nutrients, as well as being a food source. Diatoms is part of Periphyton group of algae and micro-organisms that colonise surfaces, and as noted already, its quite a common one.

 

[markstrimaran]

I dig this setup. The algae really makes the foam look like natural rocks, and i'm sure if you were to buy large fake rocks with those holes in them, they would be pricey.

Their HDPE, 3/8" plastic. I was going for the white Texas holey rock look, until I found it convenient to let African mbuna, cichlid's graze on it.
It takes about 100 watts of led growing spectrum, 16 hrs per day. To keep the 25 plus fish from picking it clean. Along with supplemental pellets.

 

[duanes]

I always let algae grow on all sides except the front, and including rocks and anything else.
On tanks lined with black styrofoam on the panels its hardly noticeable.
On tanks without the panels it looks pretty ratty, but for me those are usually breeder tanks and the benefits for fry grazing areas far out weigh the down side.