Brown in aquarium

[zabak80]

Hey guys, my 29 g tank is all cycled and everything is doing well. I cleaned it last night, vacuumed and did a water change. I also added a fake plant. And changed the filter. Today, the brand new filter is brown. There are also some brown marks on my clear filter intake as well as some brown spots, looks like burn marks, on one of my plants. Any idea if this is normal and what it is???

[Kasakato]

Its alage. Its common in a new tank. To get rid of it just wipe it off. But in about a week it will come back. After about a few months you will not get it any more.

[sky.eyes.woman]

If the tank's all cycled and everything is going well it's probably colonies of the 'good bacteria' or maybe algae. Nothing to worry about.

[Kasakato]

Forgot to add that adding more light can help get rid of it.

Getting a alage eating fish like an Oto or Pleco can also help with it. But if you can tough it out, do it.

[zabak80]

Yes, I do have an oto. He will soon be enjoying himself to a buffet!!! Thanks guys for the advice, I thought it was good bacteria, but you can never be too careful!

[Holly9937]

Did you totally change the filter and everything with it? You might run into another cycle if so. Just wanted to warn you, just in case ;)

[zazz]

pretty sure "good bacteria" are invisible

[zabak80]

Yes, I did totally change the filter, but I did add some of the charcoal from the old into the new. I've always wondered, when exactly do you change the bag on the filter and the charcoal on the filter? How much charcoal do you use? The packet given to you with the bags? Also I see some stores sell charcoal separately, should I buy a package and keep the old filter bag?

[zazz]

I don't use charcoal but what I have read is that it is only effective for a very short time. I have read from one week to one month. I suppose that partly depends on how much charcoal filtering how much stuff out of how much water. (I really don't know about amounts. you would assume that the manufacturers provide the amounts they do for some good reason but, ya never know)
Charcoal is used to remove 'chemicals' (such as medications for instance) and somehow, odors from a tank.
A filter system will also generally provide mechanical filtration ( taking floaties out of thewater so that it looks cleaner)
And biological filtration, which is what keeps the ammonia and nitrite levels in check.
SO, I don't know what type of filter you have or what else is in it besides carbon in bag. If that is all there is to the filter, then It could be that you would loose a good bit of biofiltration if you dump the charcoal.
( even when it isnt removing chemicals anymore, it would be providing a home for the biofilterring bacteria)
I assume this is why you reused some of the old charcoal?
you could tell that by testing the ammonia and nitrate levels in your tank before and after you "change" the filter I guess.
If you dont get a better answer than this, id suggest you try the question as a new thread *S

[Holly9937]

do you have any other media in your filter besides the charcoal? Usually you have a couple of different things, (say a charcoal bag and a sponge, or something like that) then you can replace an entire unit of one of them because your filter is still holding half of your media along with the bacteria. But I don't use charcoal either, I just load my filters up with sponges, which I just rinse every week with TANK water, and they supposedly last for a really long time. I was nervous when I first stopped using the carbon, but I've been doing it for a while now and everything has been just the same as always (plus I'm not spending all that money on it :D )

[zabak80]

Hey thanks everyone. Yes, I do have a plastic type sponge right in front of the filter that is separate. I keep checking the water everyday and it seems fine and the fish are doing good (except for the nippy swordtails I returned :mad2: )