I am new and need help with my tank

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bobm

Aquarium Advice Newbie
Joined
May 23, 2005
Messages
6
Location
florida
I just started my saltwater fish only tank and need some help. I am not up on the terms but hopefully I can describe this good enough. I started my fish only tank in March 2005 I have started to notice that my sand is turning brown and my decorations are also getting brown. What could this be? Is it normal? If not what can I do to fix this? Thanx for your responses.
 
I just started my saltwater fish only tank and need some help. I am not up on the terms but hopefully I can describe this good enough. I started my fish only tank in March 2005 I have started to notice that my sand is turning brown and my decorations are also getting brown. What could this be? Is it normal? If not what can I do to fix this? Thanx for your responses.
 
most will probably agree, that we need more info!

type of tank
type of filtration
type of substrate (sand or crushed coral)
are your "decorations" saltwater safe
what type of cycle method did you use (fish or Fishless)
do you have any Live Rock

If you can answer most of these I would imagine someone might be able to narrow it down!

My honest guess would be a diatom bloom, it happens near the end of a cycle and will eventually go away!

HTH
 
I have a 55 galon tank, wet dry filtration, 2 power heads, saltwater safe decorations, sand, and dead rock. I started the cycle with 4 small fish, 2 blue dansils(spelling?) and 2 other small green fish(forget the name).
 
most likely a diatom bloom! Happens near the end of your cycle!
Have you done any tests to see where your parameters are? Ph, Ammonia, Nitrites, Nitrates? If so can you list the most current ones?
 
hmmmmm, don't look too bad actually!
I have given all of my honest knowledge, I am new to the hobby as well and actually just started cycling my tank last Friday!

Well good luck hopefully someone will give you some more info than I have!
 
thank you for your help. you are probably right. and i am going to cut my food down a bit and also not leave my tank lit as long. i heard these two help also with a water change. appreciate the reply
 
so is there any other advice for this problem or any other advice newbies should be aware of? please respond id like to know as much as possible
 
most likely this brown coloration you are seeing is Algae. It will infact dry a green color if pulled out of the tank. Is it collecting on the power heads, rockwork, filtration intake/exhaust tubes, basically everything in the tank ? It should eventually break down. to much light will increase the growth of algae. with your ammonia and nitrites at 0 you should be looking into "real" fish to put in the tank. I was scared of this same thing but when i talked to my LFS they said it was normal for a starting tank. As long as it isnt red in color.

at this point id say vacuum up some of the gunk on the substrate but dont mix it up to bad as it may be detrimental to your biofilter. just get the stuff off the surface and the rest should break down over time.
 
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