ID "brown stuff"

Hannys_Papa

Hannys_Papa

AC Members
Aug 31, 2005
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Upstate NY
I am now 3 weeks into a fishless cycle on a 10G and so far not too "happy" with the results.

Ph is 7.4
Ammonia 3-4 ppm
Nitrite 0
Nitrate (no test kit yet)

After the first week i added a huge filter pad out of an established tank to my filter/ tank. I thought this would help the cycle along but it doesnt seem like it.

I added Ammonia the first few days to get it to 5-6 ppm and also a little fish food - havent added any since because the level didnt really change. I tested for nitrite every day - none yet.

Ammonia i used is clear and supposably pure... it doesnt foam but i am starting to wonder if theres something in it that is toxic and keeps bacteria from growing.

Anyways - yesterday i noticed some brown stuff on my amazon sword (fake) and being a newbie have no clue what it might be. It looks like dust and moves in the current a little.

Heres a picture:

DSC02885_E01.jpg


If the cycle ever completes i thought about going with 1 betta + 5 neons. I read alot about the neons and it seems they like shady spots and plenty of plants to hide under.

Here is a pic of my tank:

DSC02877_E01.jpg


Should i add some higher plants (fake) that go all the way up or close to the water surface that have big leafs to give them more cover or should they be ok if i dont have the light on a lot or only use 1x 15W bulb instead of the 2 that can be used in the hood.

Any help would be appreciated.
 
First do a water change 50% with dechlor water, make sure your dechlor does not remove ammonia. Your ammonia levels are too high possibly at 6ppm and adding fish food you might be at 7-8 ppm or more. Try keeping your amm readings 3-5ppm. You dont have to add amm. every day Keep testing and add enough amm. to get your readings back to 3-5. Also during your fishless cycle leave your lights off, the bacteria does not need light (algae love amm. and light) that could be what brown stuff is... Keep testing for amm, nitrite, and get a nitrate kit also. It usually takes about 1-3 weeks to get nitrite readings depending on the tank cond..
 
That is Brown Algae (diatoms).It is common in newly set up tanks.It should eventually go away on it's own.
Good luck.
 
bigtoeknee said:
Just keep your light off during cycle...
Click to expand...

With no REAL plants, keep lights off till viewing or feeding...then off again.
 
Hang in there! I did a fishless cycle with my first tank and it seemed to take forever! It was 3 or 4 weeks before I saw any nitrites and 6 weeks before I was cycled. It looks like brown algae alright. I didn't know to leave the lights off during the cycle and I ended up with alot of brown algae. When I started stocking the tank, I got a few oto cats and they cleaned it right up!
If you are going to put a betta in there, you might want to replace any plastic plants with silk. The plastic can tear their fins.

Good luck! Keep us posted! :)
 
Thanks for the quick and excellent responses. I guess i made the mistake and left the lights on so it must be brown algae.

I do intend to replace most of the plants with some taller silk plants when i make my next online order. They are just too expensive at the LFS.
That is if i ever get a cycle completed.

Would it be ok to get a snail or two instead of an algae eating fish once the cycle is done ? I am asking cause i assume with 1 betta and 5 neons i am pretty much on the stocking limit for a 10G so i am wondering if snails could help a little with any future algae problems ?

Thanks again.
 
Well, I don't have any snails yet but am purchasing some mystery snails. I've heard they're very good for cleaning up algae, dead plant material, and uneaten food and it's easy to control their reproduction (they lay eggs at the water's surface and they can be removed). I think you could fit a couple in there after you're cycled.
 
Hang in there, Hanny's Papa. I just finished successfully cycling my 10G fishless. I used a cooked shrimp. It seemed like forever before nitrites showed up, but they finally did. I don't think I'd do a water change yet, as your ammo levels are only 3-5 and no nitrites or nitrates, but I'm no expert. I think you just have to wait a bit longer.
I wonder what might have been in the tank that you took the filter media from - could there have been some ammo-lock or other ammonia converting chemical in that tank?
The shrimp method worked well for me - it produced ammonia right away, (although it never got above 3.0) and by Day 15 I was down to .25 ammonia, 5.0 Nitrite and 7-10 Nitrate. By Day 22, Nitrites and ammonia were 0 and ( today!) I was ready to change out the water and add the fish. It seemed to me like the nitrites hung around for a really long time, but in reality it was only a week until they dropped.
I'll be testing every day for a while to make sure that the ammonia stays under control. Good luck to you. Give it a bit more time.
 
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