Brown Diatoms & Cloudy Water

mikevisek

New Member
I have a 55 gal fish only tank that uses a wet/dry filtration system. It seems that I am always having to clean the glass, crushed coral substrate and equipment to get the brown diatoms off. Initially I used snails to combat the problem, but they just don't last very long. Currently I have a Flame Angel, a Percula Clown, a Fiji Devil, a Banggai Cardinal, a Purple Tang, a Cleaner Shrimp and a few hermit crabs. I am not looking to add any more fish to the tank. My water has been hazy or cloudy since day one, about a year ago. My local fish store has recommended a UV sterolizer. They have always had good advice, but I thought I'd ask the guru's on this message board first. Any thoughts or comments would be appreciated.
Mike
 

mrmaroon

Member
The Diatoms are probably there because of high Nitrite levels. Do you test your water. I would not recommend a UV sterilizer. I would invest in a protein sklmmer first. It will remove alot of the amonia, which then can not be broken down into nitrite leaving nothing for the diatoms to feed on.
 
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