Everything Going Brown!

[ryan422]

2 of my tanks, keep going brown very qucikly,
all the ornaments, gravel, and fake plants are getting like a rusty brown colour on them (not rust),
and sometimes the tank.
But with the cleaning block on the tank that cleans the tank sides,
does anyone know why it is, going brown, and what i can treat it with?

I thought it maybe my light but i never used to have this problem

Ryan

 

[Spiceweasel69]

Do you have bogwood in the tank. If you do, ill guarantee its that. 100%
Tahe it out and boil it. If not.......im stumped.

 

[The-Wolf]

sounds like diatoms (brown algea)
diatoms are caused by lack of light and are often sen in new set ps.

 

[pokagon55]

Yea sounds alot like brown algea....the brown stuff usually appears in tanks that are newly set and unstable. Check your water conitions like nitrates. Low oxygen levels can also cause this as well as the lighting and excessive silicates. When was the last water change that you did? What type of water do you use? When you change your water make sure you also clean about 30% of the gravel.

 

[ryan422]

There is a type of wood in 1 of the tanks no idea what its name is.

the light is on about 6+ hours a day

i have stripped both tanks and given them a full wash down, and the brown stuff was back within a week, but i had the brown stuff before i cleaned both the tanks,

here are some pics of the brown stuff in my tank.

Ryan

here are some pics of the brown stuff in my tank.

Ryan



here are some pics of the brown stuff in my tank.

Ryan

 

[Spiceweasel69]

Theres no way that its tannin from the bogwood. Do a 30% water change, clean up the ornaments, and leave the light on for a steady 10-12 hours a day initially. Do you have an air pump, or air intake on the filter output? You need more oxygen too.

 

[Asmp41]

I agree with the post above. I had the light on too much at the beginning of the new noval found hobby then when I went the opposite extreme I got brown algae although it is so easy to remove with a cloth . The only solutionI found was a timer for lighting.

 

[ryan422]

there used to be airstone and live plants in there, but i chucked it all, when i cleaned out the whole tank,

that tank has been up for about 3 weeks now since i cleaned it all, but the brown came after a week or so,

light is on for 6 hours does it need to be on longer?

Ryan

 

[Asmp41]

The other option is get some fish that do algae cleaning but beware of the size they grow to some get big as adults.

 

[ryan422]

I cant as i keep pirnahas.

Ryan