diatoms and chemi pure

[fishmommie]

My 90 gallon is 6 months old now. I'm still getting diatoms on my silk plants and rocks. I've removed my UGF and taken out some rocks that I thought might be high in silicates but nothing has changed yet - still dealing with diatoms. Have been unsuccessful keeping ottos alive in this tank but all other fish are great.
perimeters are generally 0/0/5 up to 20 sometimes by the time of my weekly w/c

I have not yet tried chemi pure but want to.

Questions:
1) Am I expecting too much that I should no longer have diatoms at this point? Or is it just natural to always have to deal with some degree of brown algae? As it is now, I removed the plants and rocks once a month to clean ... and I could probably do it every 3 weeks.

2) I suspect that I may be over feeding a bit (not sure - never sure). Could that be the source of my diatoms? My phosphorus is 0.

3) Is chemi pure much different than chemi pure elite? if so, which would be the preferred choice?

4) Do I need to be concerned about the chemi pure altering the softness of my water and possibly affecting my ph? And if I do start using it, should I add it to my canister filter or my HOB?

Appreciate any and all insights as I'd LOVE to get rid of this stuff for good with a minimum of expense - meaning I'd prefer not to purchase an algae scrubber.
Thanks!

[Cliff]

Diatoms need silicates to live, which typically will come from either your substrate or your water supply.

Where I live, we get silicates in the water supply form time to time so I have now started running chemipure in my canister filter. As long as I do that, I will not get any noticable diatoms in may tank

Traditional method of deal with algae (like a algae srcubber) will have no effect on diatoms. You simply need to remove the silicates from the water and the diatoms will disappear

[fishmommie]

Diatoms need silicates to live, which typically will come from either your substrate or your water supply.

Where I live, we get silicates in the water supply form time to time so I have now started running chemipure in my canister filter. As long as I do that, I will not get any noticable diatoms in may tank

Traditional method of deal with algae (like a algae srcubber) will have no effect on diatoms. You simply need to remove the silicates from the water and the diatoms will disappear

Thanks Cliff. so - I know you've suggested chemi pure before. Do you suggest the chemi pure elite or is the plain chemi pure okay? And do I have to worry about it affecting my PH?
I'm finally ready to say uncle and try it.
.

[Cliff]

I have not noticed any effect on my pH in my FW tank. The chemi-pure elite is a better product as compaired to chemi-pure . I use it in my marine tanks all the time. The biggest reason I use just the chemi-pure in my FW tank is that I can get it at the LFS down the street from me.

[fishmommie]

Again, thanks. My lfs has the chemi pure but not the elite. I'll try what he has on hand.
Appreciate it.

I have not noticed any effect on my pH in my FW tank. The chemi-pure elite is a better product as compaired to chemi-pure . I use it in my marine tanks all the time. The biggest reason I use just the chemi-pure in my FW tank is that I can get it at the LFS down the street from me.