DIRTY TANK!

9

9MMMAC

AC Members
Apr 22, 2007
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Hello all! Been lurking here for a while; and seem to have my 20G working well. Lots of great info!

I have a UGF and a HOB, and went through a fishy cycle with 3 feeder minnows. Stats are stable, if not exactly perfect. Fish are happy, but I haven't gotten around to adding the "real" fish yet.

Anyway, just lately I've noticed a lot of "dirt" in the tank. It's little black and brown dots that I can whisk off the plants (a few live ones; mostly plastic) and vac out of the gravel. The HOB filter doesn't seem to be able to get it real well, and the water is slightly cloudy. At first I though my carbon bag had broken open, but it's fine. I believe my Flourite is breaking down, as I can see huge cloud puffs of this stuff come out of the lift tubes when I restart my UGF. BTW, my substrate is about 1.5 inches of Flourite, and about 1 inch of pea gravel over that.

It this cloudiness common with Flourite? It was really cloudy I first set it up, but then it got crystal clear and life was good. Now it's everywhere- on the heater, plants, in the gravel, etc. No bad smell at all, just not pretty any more. I am seriously considering breaking it down and starting over w/ no additives; just straight gravel. I might add a pic if anyone's interested...

Comments? Suggestions?
 
Sounds like brown algae; it will gather on plastic plants and in other areas; its tough to clean some plants - Ive resorted to placing only fakes that are easily cleaned. How often do you have the tank lights on?

Do a water change and the cloudiness should go away ... could be a standard bacteria bloom ...
 
exact water params? Stable could mean your ammonia is at a constant 1.0 or it could mean its at 0, technically stable doesnt mean anything except it not moving so it could be any level.
 
I would be willing to bet its a diatom outbreak....

Fairly common in new tanks and will clear itself up in a little bit.

Otocinclus catfish really dig this stuff too so if you want to look into that...
 
First, Welcome to AC bro ;)

"A picture speaks a thousand words", as they say.

The brown dots are most likely Diatoms (a.k.a. Brown Algae) and is extremely common in new tanks for the first year. As you have discovered they are very easy to clean away, but there are also other very effective methods as well, such as micro-filters, and depending on tankmates, crowding, etc., Oto's (http://www.otocinclus.com/)

As for your cloudy water, it very easily could just be a small bloom - The picture would really help. It sounds like you ahve a very nice setup, but how long are the lights on (and wattage)? Close to a window?
 
I've been doing 20% water changes w/ vac action each day for a couple of days now. This stuff still shows up. Lights are on 12 hs/ day, and it's a single bulb 18" 20W wide spectrum. Not by a window. It just brushes right off, and they seem to be tiny brownish dots, about the size of a pinhead- I can see individual particles if I look closely. Water stats are 74 degrees F, Nitrates and Nitrite are 0, "Total Hardness" is 120-250, "Total Alkalinity" is 80 (!?) and pH is 6.8. All measurements taken w/ Mardel 5 in 1 test strips.
 
Here's some pics. I guess it could be the brown algae. If I buy a fish, it will explode- there's so much to eat!

IMGP0144.jpg
 
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