what s this brown layer on my gravel ?

[owl]

Hi all , bout a month ago i saw some areas of my gravel ( one side of the tank , behind the glass ) are turnin to brown , first i thought it may go off by itself , but now lotsa areas are brown , and it become darker
i donno wat s it i don think it s left over food that caus it , the water is crystal clear ,parameters are normal , and fishes are healthy ...
here s some pics :

what it can be ?

 

[Hurley]

Looks like diatoms. How long has the tank been set up?

 

[owl]

bout 4 month maybe , but i had a huge evacutin and cleanin bout 2 month ago , i change 30% o water every week ...

 

[Hurley]

Yeah, I think its normal. Just keep up with your maintenance and try and hit that section with the gravel vac next time you do a water change.

 

[owl]

i bought new gravel already ! lol ,,, i wanted to change the gravel for a long time and it just pushed me , i don wanna my new gravel be like this , what should i do ?

 

[Hurley]

Diatoms are a natural part of a new tank. Changing out the gravel will just cause you to get more brown diatoms because it will upset the balance of the tank. Just clean the gravel with your gravel vac when you do a water change. You can try cutting back on feeding. If its on the glass just wipe it off.

 

[mldncx]

I had the same thing in my tank. There were spots on the glass and the plastic plants were nearly covered with it. So I bought an olive nerite snail from msjinkzd. In just a couple weeks he has cleaned the glass, the plants, and has started to work on the gravel. He never stops. I just love the little guy!

 

[owl]

Diatoms are a natural part of a new tank

u m ean it will go off ? or they ll remain ?

Changing out the gravel will just cause you to get more brown diatoms because it will upset the balance of the tank

even before these things apear i wanted to change the gravel cuz they r so large gravels in there and it just prevent the corys and plecos to clean under them and even my swordtails babys goin under the large gravels and i cant seprrate them these brown things just pushed me to change them sooner ! lol ... so if they apear again after changin gravels will they remain ? it s just give the tank a bad look

 

[Hurley]

Diatoms should go away after awhile. How long are you keeping your lights on for?

 

[owl]

10hrs a day - i have 2*34w 6400k flurouscents and my tank is 55g