substrate (dust) sicks to galss wall of tank

[rodel]

is it normal for very small particle, or dust like particle of substrate to stick on the glass wall of tank?
does those brands, like ADA does not have this problem?

thanks,
rodel

[diazman]

It's normal, usually when you fill up the tank, place a piece of plastic over the substrate or use the air tube method to fill up the tank to cause minimal disturbance to the substrate. Can just use a glass cleaner if it is still there after you fully fill up the tank.

[rodel]

those substrate dust are inside the tank.
particularly on "shoreline" of substrate

IMG_2083.jpg

[diazman]

I can't really figure out from the picture but my guess is diatoms. How old is the setup?

[rodel]

only 2 months
i googled for diatoms - seems you are correct!
i saw also small dots of green algae.

[diazman]

If it is diatoms wise, it will go away in time. No worries on that

[rodel]

thank you very much!

[Urban Aquaria]

Use an algae scraper to clean it off the glass during tank maintenance... or if your tank is cycled, add in an otocinclus and it'll gladly help to eat up that algae too.

[rodel]

otocinclus - will it disturb my aquascape?

Use an algae scraper to clean it off the glass during tank maintenance... or if your tank is cycled, add in an otocinclus and it'll gladly help to eat up that algae too.

[Urban Aquaria]

otocinclus - will it disturb my aquascape?

If your carpet plants are established, otocinclus will not uproot them... they are small and gentle enough to even clean the tiny leaves of delicate plants, so are safe for aquascapes.

[Goalkeeper]

It's normal, usually when you fill up the tank, place a piece of plastic over the substrate or use the air tube method to fill up the tank to cause minimal disturbance to the substrate. Can just use a glass cleaner if it is still there after you fully fill up the tank.

Bro diazman, what's the air tube method?

[diazman]

Bro diazman, what's the air tube method?

Pretty simple actually. What you need to do is to have a bucket and a long air tube (or the smallest sized hose if air tube is too small). Place the bucket a bit higher than the the tank, and let gravity do the rest of the work. Place the air tube/hose over the decoration and it will fill up the tank slowly, without disturbing the substrate. Just need to top up water in the bucket. When the tank is 80%, just top up the remaining water normally using a cup or something else.

I adopt this method because my tank is kinda small and if I were to dump water into it (using cup etc. etc.) it will still generate some cloud of dust from the substrate.

[Forsalmon]

I like the plastic sheet method. I used a ziplock bag because its clean, lay it on the top of the substrate and pour carefully. The water impact will hit the sheet, but not the substrate, so it will not affect the scape. The first time i filled the tank, i poured the water straight in, and all my plants floated up along with the waterline...