my gravel and rocks are turning orange

[charlie09]

i have a 30 gallon tank and my gravel and rocks are starting to turn orange......its only in about a third of the tank right now.....nothing like this has ever happened before and im not doing anything different....i thnk it might be some sort or fungus or something........if you have any idea what i could try or what it might be please let me know =)

 

[XKrinXerZ]

Try brushing it off, if it comes off very easily it might be brown algea. Otherwise i woudn't know about anything that could possibly be that besides brown algea.

 

[catyrpelius]

Sounds like you are haveing an alge problem, you can brush it off but id suggest feeding your fish less and vacuming your gravel more often.

 

[mlee0332]

when I vac the gravel that stuff doesn't come off . it just flips the gravel aroind and sometimes it leaves a few on top... It's very un sightly.

I heard increasing the light will help get rid of it, but how many hrs is healthy for the following:
3 white cloud mm
3 guppies (adult)
1 neon tetra
2 guppies (fry)
Male betta
2 african dwarf frogs

Edit: these fish are in various tanks hooked to one timer...

I know you casnt run it all the time, but how many hours will nix thus problem?

 

[Dubby]

Get hold of some algae eaters such as Otos and your brown algae should go away.

Around 10 hours is recommended for planted tanks. The brown algae is not just due to the duration of the lighting but also the intensity. How much wattage do you have for your tank?

 

[mlee0332]

its a17 watt flor. light. it stays on from 12 am to 12 pm