brown algea
- Thread starter lacoste
- Start date
titus24
New Member
Sounds common with a relatively new tank. Diatoms, like MORAY stated. Soon the brown algae will turn into green alage. The LFS recommended cutting down the amount of light time by a few hours when this happens, causing less algae to grow. Eventaully, the brown and green algae should be limited. Keep up those water changes!!!
mudplayerx
Active Member
You should NOT be doing water changes during your cycle. All it does is make the cycle take longer. Mexican Turbo snails will eat your diatoms. Also, don't use tapwater for changes, it will lead to blooms of diatoms.
regal lady
New Member
what if the spots are red? I have red and green spots all over my sand and my walls... all my levels are perfect in my 2 month old tank....
benj2112
Member
Regal lady...it sounds like the red stuff is red algae (actually cyanobacteria).
Without any information I would say you need more water flow in your tank. You might have some dead spots in your tank allowing the cyanobacteria to grow. How much turnover do you have in your tank? It should be 10x to 20x for a fish only tank and 20x to 30x for a reef tank.
Without any information I would say you need more water flow in your tank. You might have some dead spots in your tank allowing the cyanobacteria to grow. How much turnover do you have in your tank? It should be 10x to 20x for a fish only tank and 20x to 30x for a reef tank.
mercey
New Member
I had the same problem, but mine was just brown and I had white sand, it coved all the plant and decoration, I ordered a product I found, all natural so I tryed it, and it worked great, product name is liquid gravel vac
the one I have is for all marine & reef aquariums,
First I did my water change, the I pulled the plants and decorations and gave them a washing ( you do not have to do this ) It was time for my water change anyway I added the liquid gravel vac and its been 3 weeks and my tank looks wondeful, now I am going to order and try the freshwater one. I will copy and paste the item discription for and leave the website where I got it
Good Luck mercey
LVAC Marine 16oz Liquid Gravel Vac (Tropical)
Item Number: TR0022
Liquid Gravel Vac utilizes the natural sciences of aquatic environmental chemistry to formulate this powerful, one-of-a-kind product. One of the key components is billions of Mother Nature's own "housekeepers": aerobic heterotrophic bacteria. These little overachievers provide all-natural stress free removal of detrimental aquarium pollutants such as uneaten fish food and fish waste through healthy bio remediation. No more accidental bruising or breaking your fragile marine life such as corals, anemones or starfish with the siphon tube. Helps to prevent accidental suffocation of your biological filter by eliminating oxygen consuming, dead and dying organic matter. This product is 100% chemical free. Effectively cleans: gravel, substrate, filtration systems, lift tubes, hoses, ornaments, plastic plants, protein skimmers and other filtration accessories. Treats up to 950 gallons.
Instructions:
Shake well, add 1 tsp per 20 gallons of water. Sludge layers should begin to dissipate within 24 hours. If water is excessively dirty, do a 30-40% water change and add one tsp of liquid gravel vac per 20 gallons of water every other day until water begins to dissolve. We recommend traditional gravel vacuuming be performed once or twice a year.
www.thatpetplace.com
the one I have is for all marine & reef aquariums,
First I did my water change, the I pulled the plants and decorations and gave them a washing ( you do not have to do this ) It was time for my water change anyway I added the liquid gravel vac and its been 3 weeks and my tank looks wondeful, now I am going to order and try the freshwater one. I will copy and paste the item discription for and leave the website where I got it
Good Luck mercey
LVAC Marine 16oz Liquid Gravel Vac (Tropical)
Item Number: TR0022
Liquid Gravel Vac utilizes the natural sciences of aquatic environmental chemistry to formulate this powerful, one-of-a-kind product. One of the key components is billions of Mother Nature's own "housekeepers": aerobic heterotrophic bacteria. These little overachievers provide all-natural stress free removal of detrimental aquarium pollutants such as uneaten fish food and fish waste through healthy bio remediation. No more accidental bruising or breaking your fragile marine life such as corals, anemones or starfish with the siphon tube. Helps to prevent accidental suffocation of your biological filter by eliminating oxygen consuming, dead and dying organic matter. This product is 100% chemical free. Effectively cleans: gravel, substrate, filtration systems, lift tubes, hoses, ornaments, plastic plants, protein skimmers and other filtration accessories. Treats up to 950 gallons.
Instructions:
Shake well, add 1 tsp per 20 gallons of water. Sludge layers should begin to dissipate within 24 hours. If water is excessively dirty, do a 30-40% water change and add one tsp of liquid gravel vac per 20 gallons of water every other day until water begins to dissolve. We recommend traditional gravel vacuuming be performed once or twice a year.
www.thatpetplace.com
lacoste
New Member
:help: hello mr. maroon, I have a magnum 350 convertable canister filter...will my fish die when the tank cycles?? or will it be okay if i do 10% water changes everyweek?? what kind of food do you should i feed? is frozen brine okay?? I am done adding fish for quite a while. thanks
mrmaroon
Member
Hopefully you will be ok. Just dont add any more fish. Many people in this hooby do not use canister filters, but some do and are succesful. I used brine (about every third day) and flake food. DO you have a test kit then to keep an eye on your water quality. If not, your LFS will check it for you. Good luck.
lacoste
New Member
I have put 4 turbo snails in the tank today and all my test that I've done on the tank are perfect...I rinsed out my filter pad in the canister and changed the charcol in the filter too, what kind of filtration do you reccomend? I fed the fish a little bit of live mussels( they loved it) and ate it all... I am still confused if I should keep changing my water...some say not to and some say keep doing it...the lights are only on for 5-6 hours a day...the tank is looking pretty good...fish don't seem stressed out at all. any suggestions?? thanks
mercey
New Member
I am sorry, mine was not that dark, I cleaned my tank, did a water change and added it, it stayed clean for me, I have added it twice since.
I have pictures of my tank at
http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/solitarie_1/my_photos
If you would like to see how mine looks, Like I said mine was not that dark and thick, and when I get build up on the glass I scrape it.
mercey
I have pictures of my tank at
http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/solitarie_1/my_photos
If you would like to see how mine looks, Like I said mine was not that dark and thick, and when I get build up on the glass I scrape it.
mercey
lacoste
New Member
Archie...my tank looks like that too...but I have professoinal help coming on Monday to help me out...Mercey, your tank looks wonderful...but the pet store told me not to use the gravel vac???? I see that it did a wonderful job on your tank...I was told that the rock i purchased was contaminated and it may contain a certain kind of worm and that the salt i used was not the right kind so i will have a different pet store help me out. Archie...do you have any fish in your tank??
sparrow
New Member
I also have brown alge. I went through my cycle about two and half weeks ago and got some scarlett hermits and the brown alge is almost all gone. When I started to turn the light off at night and got the three hermit crabs it's slowly going away. My alge was very dark brown. I think it just takes time.
mercey
New Member
Thank you Locoste,
I can not go with the cleaning crew, crabs and such, The fish I have will eat them, Once I move my triggers and angel into my larger tank, I will add a cleaning crew to the 75g, The LPS here did not have the liquid gravel vac, sometimes its a touch and go thing when you take advice from the LPS, I do keep my Tank lights off during the day, the room they are in is well lighted, I turn them on around 3pm and turn them off about 10pm, I hope who ever is coming to help you gets the job done for you, Good luck !
Mercey
I can not go with the cleaning crew, crabs and such, The fish I have will eat them, Once I move my triggers and angel into my larger tank, I will add a cleaning crew to the 75g, The LPS here did not have the liquid gravel vac, sometimes its a touch and go thing when you take advice from the LPS, I do keep my Tank lights off during the day, the room they are in is well lighted, I turn them on around 3pm and turn them off about 10pm, I hope who ever is coming to help you gets the job done for you, Good luck !
Mercey