Nasty brown gunk

mckaax

mckaax

Member
I have noticed that I have a few spots in the tank that get a layer of brown gunk. It is all over the rock and a few spots in the sand. Where it is on the rock you don't see it until you move something in that area causing water movement and then it stirs up massive amounts of dead matter(I guess). I have tons of flow around 30x. I have my hydors pointed at the glass. If I point them down it causes the sand to stir up and its just a big mess. Would it be ok to try to siphon it out when I do my water changes? Any other ideas?
 
perfectdark

perfectdark

Active Member
Its either Diatoms or Cyano, but doing water changes adjusting your flow and syphoning it out when you see it are all good to do. Also reduce your light schedule to maybe 4 to 6 hours a day for a while. But finding the cause is going to be most benificial. Most of the time its due to over feeding or lacking in mainanence in some way. Do you blow off your LR every now and then when you do a water change?
 
m0nk

m0nk

Active Member
Originally Posted by mckaax
http:///forum/post/2558643
I have noticed that I have a few spots in the tank that get a layer of brown gunk. It is all over the rock and a few spots in the sand. Where it is on the rock you don't see it until you move something in that area causing water movement and then it stirs up massive amounts of dead matter(I guess). I have tons of flow around 30x. I have my hydors pointed at the glass. If I point them down it causes the sand to stir up and its just a big mess. Would it be ok to try to siphon it out when I do my water changes? Any other ideas?
Sounds like it's likely cyanobacteria (which comes in green, brown, red, purple, etc), but it could be a diatom algae or detritus. You can siphon it out, but if it's cyano or detritus, it might come back until you address why it's there. Low flow areas, or dead zones, often build up detritus if you don't have a large cleanup crew with plenty of detritus eaters. Hermits are great for this, but you could also use just about any type of shrimp. Most snails typically stick with algae....
If it's cyano, you might have dead zones as well, you might leave the lighting on too long, overfeed, or have a large amount of nutrients in your water, such as phosphates... even nitrates can add to a cyano problem.
If you provide pics we might be able to better diagnose.
 
m0nk

m0nk

Active Member
Originally Posted by PerfectDark
http:///forum/post/2558681
Its either Diatoms or Cyano, but doing water changes adjusting your flow and syphoning it out when you see it are all good to do. Also reduce your light schedule to maybe 4 to 6 hours a day for a while. But finding the cause is going to be most benificial. Most of the time its due to over feeding or lacking in mainanence in some way. Do you blow off your LR every now and then when you do a water change?
Guess I took too long writing my response.
 
spanko

spanko

Active Member
Sounds like detritus to me. During water changes you can siphon it, if you are running a filter you can also use a turkey baster to blow on the rock and move the detritus into the water column for removal by the filter and the water change. This also provides some nourishment for your coral and fish when it is floating around. Does either sound like a dead spot or what has been left over from cycling. Either way good husbandry techniques and additional flow to the area will help to keep it from accumulating in the future. What kind of clean up crew do you have, that will also help.
By the way if that is you in the avatar you don't look like you are feeling any pain there. Got a little of the droopy eye.
 
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