Dirty Tank!

jkogut

jkogut

New Fish
#1
Jun 14, 2009
8
0
0
#1
Hello! I'm in need of help :( I've had my saltwater tank for almost 2 months now. It's a 10 gallon tank with 2 clown fish & a sand starfish. My tank has been fine, but just this past 2 weeks there is some brown, hairy looking crud thats all ontop of my sand. I'm not sure what it is or where it came from.. I want to know how to get rid of it before it gets worse! My fish used to swim all over the place & im noticing they haved both been staying underneath a glass bridge that i have in there. Could they be stressed? Please help! Im a beginner & everytime i try to clean out the brown stuff it instantly comes back the next day.. What am i doing wrong?
 

Lorna

Lorna

Elite Fish
#2
Mar 3, 2005
3,082
4
0
NE Indiana
#2
sounds like cyano bacteria. Decrease the amount you are feeding and increase the flow with powerheads. Usually caused by low water flow and high nutrients. Do a large waterchange and reduce your feeding these should help.
 

TRe

TRe

Elite Fish
#3
Feb 20, 2005
3,645
1
0
ft. lauderdale
#3
do you have any live rock in ther? can u get a pic of the "brown, hairy looking crud "? maybe just diatoms which is normal in a tank this young... like lorna says do like a 3g water change... tell more about your tank tho so we can help better like filtration, live rock, sand?
 

jkogut

jkogut

New Fish
#4
Jun 14, 2009
8
0
0
#4
Hey.. I couldnt find this post where you have both answered me, so then i typed a new one & found this one ! lol Now what are powerheads? Yeah I have live rock in there, and gravel which is new because the lady at the store told me its not good to have sand in there(i thought was weird because oceans are sand & its saltwater tank). So i will do the large water change & slow up on feeding. Also, there is always green stuff on my rocks & on some of the gravel.. I try to scrape it off and keep cleanign but is this bad? Is this part of th cycle??
 

Lorna

Lorna

Elite Fish
#5
Mar 3, 2005
3,082
4
0
NE Indiana
#5
boy I wish you had read this before you changed out your sand. Gravel which is probably crushed coral is sold by a lot of fish stores but is really not a good thing for saltwater tanks as it traps detritus and stuff and this in turn rots and turns into nitrates which will lead to more algae over the life of your tank. I would take it out and put the sand back in, provided it is aragonite (calcium carbonate) sand. Just by increasing your water flow, reducing the feeding and stepping up water changes you should be able to get a handle on the issue. Powerheads are small water pumps you place in the corners of your tank to move water you should aim for about 10-15 times the tank volume per hour and more if you have a reef tank. (ie. you should look at a korallia nano or 1)
 

jkogut

jkogut

New Fish
#6
Jun 14, 2009
8
0
0
#6
Well actually it's not the regular gravel that probably everyone has in their tank.. It's like Natural rocks they aren't artificially colored or anything, and I have been syphoning the rocks alot to make sure it's clean. Also, my tank is pretty small its only 10 gallon & i have two clownfish and the sand starfish still. The filter I have is for a 10-15 gallon tank & I have two different pieces of live rock. No reef. I took out a little more than 3 gallons of water yesterday & replacd with new, vacuumed the rock & haven't fed my fish & probably wont until tonight. Hopefully this will help. As far as the green stuff goes is this algae or bacteria? What should I do to get rid of that?
 

Lorna

Lorna

Elite Fish
#7
Mar 3, 2005
3,082
4
0
NE Indiana
#7
well a few things. I would seriously trade in the sand sifting star as it will no doubt die very very soon from starvation. They need a huge footprint of live sand to survive and then their mortality rate is very very high......48 inch tank minimum. Gravel that is not calcium carbonate based is not a good idea for saltwater as most gravel that you see is silca based and can cause huge algae outbreaks later down the road. It may be esthetically pleasing but adds nothing so why not put the aragonite sand back in which will help buffer your water and is natural when trying to recreate nature? As long as you have that type gravel you will have algae.....my opinion for what it is worth
 

jkogut

jkogut

New Fish
#9
Jun 14, 2009
8
0
0
#9
Ok, So putting the sand back in.. Am i going to have to keep going through the Nitrogen Cycle? Cuz that means I Have to start everything over again and this would be the 3rd time! That stuff that looks hairy is back again in the tank and Im dying to know what it is and how it got there it makes everything look brown and dirty and Ive been doing water changes and not feeding the fish as often. How do i prevent that stuff from coming back i dont know what im doing wrong! :(
 

Lorna

Lorna

Elite Fish
#10
Mar 3, 2005
3,082
4
0
NE Indiana
#10
You should not have to restart your nitrogen cycle as everything else in the tank will be populated with beneficial bacteria. The sand will evenutally become live as it becomes populated also with bacteria. You know a picture of this stuff would really help us nail it down. If it is diatoms, it will go away it just may take a bit longer due to the change of substrate. you are on the right track, just be patient.....water flow, correct water parameters, low nutrients will all help get it under control, it takes time. Remember, only bad things happen fast.
 

L

leighnorton

Small Fish
#15
Jul 12, 2009
44
0
0
#15
I am slightly worried now.... In the middle of starting to set up my tank and I also have a light brown substance covering some of my sand, live rock and pretty dead coral I got from a diver friend of mine =(

I was thinking it may be a good thing as it makes the dead rock "live" again?! Also thought it was just good bacteria spreading... I don't even have any fish to feed! If it gets worse my end I'll put a picture up of what I've got... =)
 

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