gravel covered in brown substance

[fishyfoo]

my 60 litre tank has 5 fish see bottom - the past week i have noticed my gravel which are fairly small roundish stones brought from lfs are getting brown obviously waste from the fish and covering the top layer of stones - this doesnt come off when a siphon cleaner is used, how do i go bout cleanin them - at the monet i am doin 20-25% water changes weekly and just cleaned out filter media but how do i actually get to cleanin the stones without doin a full tank cleanout?? i could i just remove stones bit by bit whilst doin water change wash them and place back in tank - im struggling to think of best way to go about cleaning them without disturbing the fish too much??

 

[Aienu]

are you sure it's fish waste? there are some brown algae growths..

 

[MAM]

is it kind of slimy?

"are you sure it's fish waste? there are some brown algae growths.. "
might that be the slimy brown stuff that collects on top of my filter unit and hose? i can wipe it off easily enough, its just kind of gross.................

 

[Dubby]

Hi Fishyfoo,

Suggest you get a plec or any other Algae eater. They will clean up the stuff.

 

[Lithril]

Dwarf pleco has been an absolute god send in my tank, thought that there was enough algae to keep him going for a while and he's cleared the lot, had to start feeding him algae tablets every other now (tried cucumber other day). Had a stone bridge covered in algae, next day it was clean as when I bought it.

When you do a water change do you ever use any type of gravel vacuum for cleaning up the waste on the bottom??? I do weekly water changes and then every 2-3 weeks when I do the water change I will clean the bottom with the vacuum.

 

[Ron]

Its probably brown algae, had it in one of my tanks once. Have you cycled the tank alrady, beacuse in my experience, its always happened when a tank has been going through a fish cycle. Eventually, after taking practically the whole tank over, turns to green algea. I would vacume it out and clean it very well, even the slightest amoun will multiply and become a large popualtion again. Good Luck!
Ron

 

[fishyfoo]

ok thanks for the advice but what i mean is how do i go about cleaning the stuff from the gravel - do i take all the fish out and do a complete water change - cause otherwise how would i be able to clean the gravel while the fish are still in there?? please help - today i brought 2 black optimous?? dunno how u spell it but they are algae eaters but very small and dont get too big like common plecs they didnt have any dwarf plecs left! reckon they will aid to cleaning the gravel or do they just clean the glass of the tank??

 

[Lithril]

Dwarf plecs clean anything, don't know abou the optimous. Have you tried a gravel vacuum for cleaning???

 

[smb]

please help - today i brought 2 black optimous?? dunno how u spell it but they are algae eaters but very small and dont get too big like common plecs they didnt have any dwarf plecs left! reckon they will aid to cleaning the gravel or do they just clean the glass of the tank??

Otocinclus is what you might mean and yes they will clean the algae off of the gravel.