New Tank, Mysterious Brown Growth, PLEASE HELP

jayeden

jayeden

Member
Hey Guys,
Im not only new to this forum, but also new to saltwater aquariums.
Heres the deal
I have a 120 Gallon Tank, and it has been cycling with 3 moderatly sized pieces of live rock for about 2 weeks. I have gradually added a few fish, the largest of which is a 2-3 inch trigger, followed by an angel, a clown, and 3 damsels.
It was fine for the first few days, and now for the past 2 days, brown dirt has been developing on my live rock, and much on the bottom sand(grinded coral).
1. What is this?
2. How do i fix it?
Anyone who can help that would be greatly appreciated, as well, send me an email to jayeden@gmail.com, I can provide you with a picture or two if you wish.
Thanks Very Much
Jaye D.
 
joebob7

joebob7

Member
i also have this problem in my 20g i have been vacuuming it up with a siphon though
my best guess to what it is is waste form creatures in the LR but ill be watching to see if anyone has a better one
 
barchtruong

barchtruong

Member
you just couldn't wait to see some pretty stuff swimming around the tank while cycling, right.....lol....
I know what you are going through, but you are adding way too much fishes too soon.
The brown stuff will go away in about 1week or so.
and the the green stuff kicks in.
you need to do you water change very frequently, lik 5% every 3 days if you want to save all those lil lives swimming in there. Also, feed them as minimal as you can. They can go without food for several days.
What filtration do you have?
 
joebob7

joebob7

Member
i havent added any fish except for 2 now dead clowns and hermits and snails
there is no way that these critters coulod produce that much waste
some parts of the rock have it 1/2 cm deep
 
jayeden

jayeden

Member
hey, thanks for the quick response, i have 2 fluval 304, and 2 fluval 404, over 1200gph combines running, is this good or bad?
 
barchtruong

barchtruong

Member
brown stuff is not fish waste.
it is diatoms.
type in "diatoms" in the search engine key. you will find lots of good source about it.
But it will go away in 1 ro 2 week. keep vacuum them out and run a good filtration. you will be fine.
 
jayeden

jayeden

Member
yes yes, they are all large canister filters, 303 models are 3 stage, and respective for 404....as well, my protein skimmer is running well....im shooting myself in the foot now, what do you think my chances are of my fish suriving a full cycle....
i mean, truthfully, the day i added salt, i put in a clown, and within a week i have it populated to 6 fish and a deteriorating wallet :p
what do you recomend i do for water changes? i.e, what amount (%) and how often, AS WELL, is there a general rule of thumb when adding water, i can add from a large jug and mix in salt prior to adding, BUT, is there a rule when adding salt to water in order to get the rite level??
thanks again for the help
jaye d.
 
barchtruong

barchtruong

Member
you need to mix salt in the water jugs at least 24hrs prior to adding them in the tank.
use a wd rod and mix them up vigorously.
put an air bubble in each jug if you could. That will maintain ph in in mixed water.
you need to change your water 5% every 3days for about 1 weeks, and then every 5 days the week after that.
don't mess with the canister for now, you need to let the bateria to build up in those ceramic tubes.
keep you sg at 1.023 now if there are fishes only in the tank.
keep temp at 78.
Check water perameter every day especially Amo and Trate.
Change water again if it reads too high.
Don't feed ur fish for a couple days.
Feed them very little, like you can see them eat all the food and no left over.
but not too much food. more food=more waste.
 
jayeden

jayeden

Member
anf the general rule of thumb when adding salt to water? (i.e - 1 tbl spoon of salt for 3 gallons of water) just an example, I have no clue what it would be, thats why im asking. thanks
 
barchtruong

barchtruong

Member
oh, forgot, hahah
I don't know what kinda salt you are using,
I use Instant Ocean, instructions said, 1/2cup per gal.
I couldn't get my sg up to 1.025 if I use that formula,
so I added a lil more than 3 cups in 5 gal jug to get it up to 1.025.
This is what you need to do.
do 3/4cup per gal and use your hydrometer and measure it.
then increase the salt til you get to the sg pt you want and remember the exact amount you added in. Do the same thing next time, you will be ok.
 
jayeden

jayeden

Member
sounds good thanks a lot, as well, do you recoment a certain type of test kit, that is good for testing all aspects of the water, i shop Big Als, so if you can find one on their site, let me know....thanks again...
 
barchtruong

barchtruong

Member
I bought 2 different sets at a local petstore.
One called, Reef master test kit for Calcium, Alk, Phosphate and Nitrate
the other one is Saltwater Master liquid test kit for PH, Amo, trate and trite.
they are all liquid.
you should get the liquid ones. it's more accurate.
 
jayeden

jayeden

Member
alright thanks, i will get test kits tomorow....then dependant on the tests....i just buy the chemicals in order to lessen or highten the levels??
 
barchtruong

barchtruong

Member
there's not much chem. needed to be lessen or highten except Calcium and PH.
you don't have to worry about Calcium now cuz you don't have corals.
PH, if you change your water routinely, you hardly need to add buffer until you tank is older. But for now, no chem. added. Just change water is good enuf.
 
barchtruong

barchtruong

Member
I have a 55gal tank. fish mixed coral tank. I will keep all friendly fishes and lots of corals.
I have a Flame Angel, 2 nemos, a lawnmower blenny, a bristle star, and a unknown lil star, 3 feather dusters, 10astrea snails, some mushrooms, polyps corals, an anemone and a scallop. That's all.
 
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