Brown stuff on substrate - Help!!!

3234 Views 20 Replies 7 Participants Last post by caique, Apr 30, 2017

Robertg8887

Discussion Starter · Apr 21, 2017

3

Hello all!

I'm newer to the community and am starting my first planted tank. I have been setup now about 3 months and my tank has fully cycled. I noticed today that I have this weird brown stain like stuff on my gravel substrate. I'm not sure what it is? I did however buy some aquaeron liquid plant food from my local fish store and dosed my 30g accordingly with 30ml of the product. I noticed the liquid is brown but seemed to dissapate into the water and didnt like settle all at once on the bottom.

I'm not sure what i have. Could this be some kind of algae or could it be from my plant food?... Do i even need the plant food as all i have planted is elodea anacharis. Will the fish waste and nitrate by products be enough for them?

Thanks,

Rob

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p0tluck

· #2 · Apr 21, 2017

The fish waste won't be enough, what you're seeing is normal, as your substrate is also a bio bed (grows bacteria) don't remove it just turn it over if it's that bothersome, could be diatoms which is brown algae, nothing to be alarmed about. How much plant food do you add weekly?

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Robertg8887

Discussion Starter · #3 · Apr 21, 2017

I am dosing as per the instructions on the bottle based on my tank size, 30gallons.

I end of dosing about 30ml once per week.

p0tluck

· #4 · Apr 21, 2017

I use Seachem that doesn't have water added to it and has more nutrients than the aqueon. Aqueon has water added to it, I dose 10 ml a week, aqueon wants 10 ml per 10 gal, Seachem flourish comprehensive is 10 ml per 60 gallons.

edit : flourish comprehensive is 5 ml per 60
Aqueon plant flood has
98.5% Deionized water

Also comprehensive has way more ingredients in it to make a long post short, your best bet would be to switch to Seachem flourish it will save you money in the long run, don't fret over the diatoms they aren't harmful just an eye sore, I see your light looks very bright what is your lighting?

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Robertg8887

Discussion Starter · #5 · Apr 21, 2017

I was given the light strip by a friend of mine. Im not sure the brand of name of it. It is a LED light strip with mostly white lights and a few blue led lights, as for settings it only has on, off, and a blue moonlight light setting or poor mans UV.

p0tluck

· #6 · Apr 21, 2017

Robertg8887 said:
I was given the light strip by a friend of mine. Im not sure the brand of name of it. It is a LED light strip with mostly white lights and a few blue led lights, as for settings it only has on, off, and a blue moonlight light setting or poor mans UV.

Does it have a brand name

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Robertg8887

Discussion Starter · #7 · Apr 21, 2017

i think its a marieland led light bar. This is the closest that i can find on google that matches what i have. Like i said it was given to me and no where on it does it say what it is or who makes it.

however the light pattern and blue led placement on my bar is that same as shown in this picture.

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MtAnimals

· #8 · Apr 21, 2017

I use a fractional EI dosing with dry fert from NiloCG.it's about 20 bucks for a couple years worth.Comes with the bottles and premixed packets and you add the distilled water.

Both the aqueon and seachem are mostly water.It looks like form checking the ingredients list of both,the aqueon has macros and the seachem does not.

check this thread:

http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/8...50-seachem-flourish-comprehensive-enough.html

p0tluck

· #9 · Apr 21, 2017 (Edited by Moderator)

MtAnimals said:
I use a fractional EI dosing with dry fert from NiloCG.it's about 20 bucks for a couple years worth.Comes with the bottles and premixed packets and you add the distilled water.

Both the aqueon and seachem are mostly water.It looks like form checking the ingredients list of both,the aqueon has macros and the seachem does not.

check this thread:

http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/8...50-seachem-flourish-comprehensive-enough.html

"Flourish Comprehensive is sometimes labeled as just Flourish and it is an all around fertilizer with a little of everything including a small amount of macro ferts (Nitrogen-N, Phosphorus-P, and Potassium-K) and some of the micro ferts (iron, magnesium, boron, etc). It is a great all around fert to start with and will do well for most easy low-tech and low light tanks."

That's from a different forum , I see nothing on my bottle of flourish for Water im sure it does as fertilizers are dry so they need water, Seachem is a much better product than aqueon, he's not growing heavily, the EI is cheaper yes but I don't think he needs to go that Route I will be soon but in my post no one told me what I need to get from the website.

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Robertg8887 said:
i think its a marieland led light bar. This is the closest that i can find on google that matches what i have. Like i said it was given to me and no where on it does it say what it is or who makes it.

however the light pattern and blue led placement on my bar is that same as shown in this picture.

Okay well that's not a"junk "light, what is your light cycle, it's not the best light or even close but if left on to long im sure diatoms will form.

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MtAnimals

· #10 · Apr 21, 2017

p0tluck said:
"Flourish Comprehensive is sometimes labeled as just Flourish and it is an all around fertilizer with a little of everything including a small amount of macro ferts (Nitrogen-N, Phosphorus-P, and Potassium-K) and some of the micro ferts (iron, magnesium, boron, etc). It is a great all around fert to start with and will do well for most easy low-tech and low light tanks."

That's from a different forum , I see nothing on my bottle of flourish for Water im sure it does as fertilizers are dry so they need water, Seachem is a much better product than aqueon, he's not growing heavily, the EI is cheaper yes but I don't think he needs to go that Route I will be soon but in my post no one told me what I need to get from the website.

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The thread I linked is from this forum.Flourish comprehensive "Does not contain significant levels of nitrogen or phosphorus" that's from seachem's website.

http://www.seachem.com/flourish.php

Since no one mentioned,here's the EI package: DIY EI Liquid Fertilizer| Premium Aquarium Fertilizer | NilocG Aquatics

I've been using the DIY EI package in low-tech tanks dosing 1/3,and the DIY pack has lasted 2 years so far in 7 tanks from 5 to 55 gallons.

p0tluck

· #11 · Apr 21, 2017

His post is about brown stuff on his substrate it could be the ferts but I'm not thinking so, I'm trying to find out what's causing it, im pretty sure it's just the natural thing that's happening when it grows bacteria, or could be diatoms.

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Kayak83

· #12 · Apr 21, 2017

p0tluck said:
His post is about brown stuff on his substrate it could be the ferts but I'm not thinking so, I'm trying to find out what's causing it, im pretty sure it's just the natural thing that's happening when it grows bacteria, or could be diatoms.

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Diatoms for sure. The beginning of them...

MtAnimals

· #13 · Apr 21, 2017

A few small ramshorn snails will make short work of diatoms.

GrampsGrunge

· #14 · Apr 21, 2017

It's a white substrate, it's going to reflect a lot of the overhead lighting and cause some diatoms and possibly other algaes. No way to get around that.

BTW, OP, did you use aragonite or coral sand for your substrate, and do you know your tap water parameters if you're using tap water? Reason I'm asking is that Seachem uses Ferrous Gluconate in their Iron fert supplements, which is best used in tanks that can be counted on to run slightly acid in pH. You are throwing money away using this iron supplement if your tank is anywhere North of 7.2~7.6 pH

You're going to be headed down the water chemistry versus possibility of your plants not growing well, rabbit hole here. The learning curve climbs steeply from this point onwards...

Bump:

MtAnimals said:
A few small ramshorn snails will make short work of diatoms.

Well except that they don't normally turn the individual gravel grains over and clean diatoms from both sides, MTS would work but would be a bit of an aesthetic shocker, especially if they started to overpopulate.

Robertg8887

Discussion Starter · #15 · Apr 21, 2017

Thank you everyone for the replies, after looking into diatoms I think that may be what i am facing. Is nutrient reduction through more frequent water changes and feeding less the only cure? I don't want to go nuclear and dose my tank with anti algae products as i dont know how that will effect my plants, fish, or beneficial bacteria as well as water chemistry.

As for my substrate i just used plain aquarium gravel. Since im not adding Co2 or any other high maintenance plants for this tank i opted to avoid it. I am only interested in beginner level plants as this is my first ever tank. I don't want to go way over my head and end up overwhelmed. Im starting slow and learning.

My water parameters are as follows:
Ammonia 0ppm
Nitrite 0ppm
Nitrate 20ppm
PH 6.6

When i first introduced the elodea anacharis to my tank i did the whole 1% bleach wash on them for about 10 seconds, I dont think it killed all the snail eggs as i ended up with a pond snail explosion during my cycling. At one point i had almost close to 100 of them on the tank walls and substrate. I soon invested in a turkey baster and started sucking them up. Well after a week of that and not seeing a end in sight to their population i ended up buying 3 assassin snails (whelks) they instantly went to town and ate their hearts out. now 4 weeks later i have the occassional pond snail here or there but no where like it was. These guys are beasts. For the diatoms i would introduced mts or ramshorns but i dont want another snail infestation so the assassins are here to stay. I need another option for diatom removal.

Also a sidebar question i have two corys out of 6 that are turning this dark grey color and just laying still on the substrate. I originally stocked 4 and was told they need groups of 6 or more so I went out and bought two more. When i got all of them they were all kind of white with green metallic look to them, they are emerald corys. However two have started just laying on the substrate and turned dark grey. Pic attached, I cant for sure say these darks are the ones i bought seperate 2 weeks after introducing the original 4 as they were all around the same size and color. thanks!

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Kayak83

· #16 · Apr 22, 2017

I'm having the same diatom issue you are, but at a larger scale. In my thread, somebody suggested Ramhorns also but also Otto Catfish (a suckerfish). That or a bristlenose pleco. But I'm leaning towards a new heavy workers...i.e.- catfish. I'm heading to my local pet store tomorrow to get the Otto's. They are suckerfish and will eat just about anything, I'm told. So I'm hopeful. I also want to skip to Ramhorn snails because they apparently breed like mad and I don't need that in my life at the moment. Although, I do have a Yoyo loach that I got specifically for a previous snail infestation from a Petco plant purchase.....so. many. snails...

Anyway, I'll try to remember to report back about the Otto's. Everything I've read on the web so far points to Otto's being the best you can do for the brown stuff. The cories won't eat the stuff. That and wait a few months for the tank to completely cycle properly. We're all impatient aren't we!

p0tluck

· #17 · Apr 22, 2017

How did you scrimmage the Cories as they are sensitive, did you acclimate them, your water parameters are fine so I would rule that out.

Could be something they came with but he definitely doesn't look well is he eating? Do you have a hospital tank setup?

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DigityDog70

· #18 · Apr 22, 2017

So... for starters... you have white gravel and you will basically "always" have that brown algae, which like some have said aren't bad. I wouldn't even bother with that but I am wondering if that's crushed coral, as it sort of looks like it, but I can't tell in the pics. That type of substrate is more of a challenge to keep clean vs sand as stuff gets trapped in it. If it is crushed coral, that tends to raise the PH level of your water which isn't the most desirable substrate for plants and I see that you have corydoras which really like sand vs that rocky stuff. If I were you, at some point down the road, if you like white, check out Caribsea White sand. I have been using it in my Severum tank and it's a breeze to keep clean and the granules are extremely small and soft with a Neutral PH, easier and less time consuming to keep clean and no brown spots. The fish all crap in the same spot so I just sweep over it with a vacuum and it's cleaned in a matter of two minutes for the entire tank 4' long.

I think this is your light, I'm copying the info. from another site. Marineland Lcd light strip and or Plant Light.
3 watt RGB LEDs that provide 460nm blue which encourages “fullness”, 660nm red which encourages “reaching”, and green which accents the natural beauty of your aquatic plants. The dispersion lens makes sure these are all properly blended so your plants receive an adequate and fulfilling amount of light. The energy efficient 1 watt 6,500K LEDs provides your plants with the correct light energy for photosynthesis, assuring your plants proper growth. The 6,500K LEDs also feature a polycarbonate lens that adds a natural shimmer effect.

Size # of 1 Watt White LEDs # of 3 Watt Blue LEDs Lumens
18"-24" 18 3 1740
24"-36" 23 4 2240
36"-48" 36 6 3480
48"-60" 46 8 4480

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Robertg8887

Discussion Starter · #19 · Apr 29, 2017

A quick update. I bought some java fern, amazon sword, and planted bit of dwarf hairgrass in the the foreground. Things seem to be going ok. I picked up a bottle of flourish and was sticker shocked at $17 but I think itll last a long time. I added 3 new corys to the tank and currently have 7 altogether.

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Kayak83

· #20 · Apr 29, 2017

Robertg8887 said:
A quick update. I bought some java fern, amazon sword, and planted bit of dwarf hairgrass in the the foreground. Things seem to be going ok. I picked up a bottle of flourish and was sticker shocked at $17 but I think itll last a long time. I added 3 new corys to the tank and currently have 7 altogether.

Amazon has it for cheap.

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