Brownish stuff? Lol

[jd76067]

I have this brown stuff in 2 of my aquariums... It covers the gravel and the decor. The decorations are mostly big off white rocks that have been the aquarium for well over a year and just started appearing in the last couple of months. Any suggestions?

[Brhino]

does it wipe off easily? If so, it sounds like diatoms, which are common in new tanks... but you said your tanks have been set up for a while?

[CassieLEO]

More Diatoms posts!! Everyone is getting them LOL!!!!!

[jd76067]

does it wipe off easily? If so, it sounds like diatoms, which are common in new tanks... but you said your tanks have been set up for a while?
It wipes off of yhe gravel rather quickly but not the big rocks... Is there something I can get for this or another kind of algae eater, or something?

[mommy1]

it's better to find the cause than to treat the symptom. you say your tanks have been set up for a while, but have you changed anything in them? lights, new fish, less fish, added or removed plants? have you changed your maintenance routine?

[jd76067]

it's better to find the cause than to treat the symptom. you say your tanks have been set up for a while, but have you changed anything in them? lights, new fish, less fish, added or removed plants? have you changed your maintenance routine?
Maintenance routine is the same. I added one 3" Albino Oscar. But other than that nothing has changed... I added him about 3-4 weeks ago to my 100gl.

[Lady Hobbs]

Have you had the water tested? I was wondering about cleaning. Perhaps you cleaned the filter too well which caused an ammonia spike since diatoms will come from an imbalance of nutrients which occur in uncycled tanks or very new tanks.

[Taurus]

Well, at least the OP posted in the correct section of the forum, but forgot to READ THIS:

[Only Registered Users Can See Links.]

So, read that ^. :ssmile:

[Kourtneyy]

Maybe you could get some of those snails to eat it. :shrug:

[jd76067]

Have you had the water tested? I was wondering about cleaning. Perhaps you cleaned the filter too well which caused an ammonia spike since diatoms will come from an imbalance of nutrients which occur in uncycled tanks or very new tanks.
I tested the water last night and the readings are as follows
Nitrates: 160-- Way too high
Nitrites: 0
Alkalinity: 130
Ph: 7.0

I've had the 110gl tank up and running for in my home for about a year... It was running in a friends home for 3 years. I pumped half the water out into 5gl buckets with lids and brought it all here and then put it all back like it was. The only water treatment that I use is Prime. I do a water change every 2 weeks of about 25-30% Same temp of water when it goes in with Prime in the water before it goes in the tank. So no drastic changes have been made.

[mommy1]

yikes! diatomes grow because they have the lighting and nutrients they need. with nitrates of 160ppm its no wonder you have diatomes, and honestly i am surprised you still have live fish. i would start with a water changes. maybe 40% daily until you can get those nitrates down to a safer range. i would say larger but my concern is that too much of a change may shock and stress the fish. 40% daily until they are down to under 20ppm.
how many and what type of fish do you have in this tank? and what is your filtration? we need to determine if its stocking or maintenance or both allowing your nitrates to get so high.

[Cliff]

I''m guessing since you added a oscar, you might need to make changes to you maintenance routine and / or your filtration. From what I've read, oscar are very large waste producers.

I think Mommy1 is right on the money here. No change to your water change routine after increasing the waste in the water is likely were the higher than normal nitrates came form. Depending on the bio-load of all the fish in your tank, you might need to up-grade or add more filtration as well.

[jd76067]

yikes! diatomes grow because they have the lighting and nutrients they need. with nitrates of 160ppm its no wonder you have diatomes, and honestly i am surprised you still have live fish. i would start with a water changes. maybe 40% daily until you can get those nitrates down to a safer range. i would say larger but my concern is that too much of a change may shock and stress the fish. 40% daily until they are down to under 20ppm.
how many and what type of fish do you have in this tank? and what is your filtration? we need to determine if its stocking or maintenance or both allowing your nitrates to get so high.
I have 2 oscars in the 110gl, 1 is 14" and the other close to 5". There is an 8" pleco, 8" jack dempsey, and a 6" pictus cat. A far as filtering I have 2 Penguin Bio-Wheel 350 filters that hang on the back wall.

The 100gl has the same kind of filtration. I have 2 Red Belly Pacus 2" & 3", 5" Bala, 3" Albino Oscar, 6" ZigZag Eel, and a 3" pleco.

Now I do feed live fish on occasion, but its very rare that I do, with them being hard to get where I live.

I appreciate everyones help with this junk... I have thought about getting some of the Trochus Snails and letting them get to work, but thats not bringing down the Nitrates

[CassieLEO]

JD- You are so overstocked...You really need to think about thinning out your herd and finding homes for a few of your fish.

[jd76067]

JD- You are so overstocked...You really need to think about thinning out your herd and finding homes for a few of your fish.
I would never have thought that 5 fish in a 110gl tank would be over stocked.

[Lady Hobbs]

Reading your stocking levels in your profile, my jaw dropped. You are really, really overstocked. You need to keep up with massive water changes and keep that tank much cleaner. I just had high nitrites in a tank, as well, and found out my filter media was way too dirty so perhaps you need more maintence on your tanks and filters.


Aquarium 1:
110gl
Black and Orange Tiger Oscar
Jack Dempsey
Albino Oscar
Pleco
Pictus Catfish

ouch!

Aquarium 2:
100gl
2 Red Belly Pacus
Black Bala
Albino Oscar
Zig-Zag Eel
Pleco

ouch!

Aquarium 3:
10gl
8 Mollies and not sure how many babies

ouchie again!

[mommy1]

there is more to properly stocking a tank than how big the fish get. there is also how much waste the fish make to consider. and most of your fish are high waste producers. on top of this your filtration leaves a bit to be desired, as does your water change schedule.
i would suggest in addition to the penguins add a good canister filter to the big tanks. get rated for bigger than the tanks you have. and up your water changes to 30-50% at least twice a week, after the initial everyday changes to get the nitrates down.

ps. you would be doing your fish a favor if you could get another big tank and spread them out a bit.