Live sand and live rocks covered in a brown film.

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Katrina28

Aquarium Advice Apprentice
Joined
Jan 15, 2012
Messages
15
Can anyone help me with this.my sand,rocks and walls of tank are getting this brown stuff on it. It's been their for a couple of weeks and I don't know how to get rid of it. The tank has been running for 3 years now. All I got is live rock and fish.
 
Welcome! I have moved your thread to Sw and Reef- Getting Started. This should help you to get more responses.

Can you give us some more information about your tank? Water test readings and a description of your maintenance schedule, equipment, etc. would be a good place to start. Are you using tap water or RO water? Have you changed salt mix lately?
 
It doesn't look like you have very much live rock in the tank, from your avatar. How many fish do you have in the tank, and how often and how much do you feed?
Is that a 75 gallon?
 
I have 7 fish. 2 clown fish, blenny,hippo tang, blue tang, yellow tang, fire fish. I only got about 40 lbs of live rock right now. At 7.99$/lbs I only buy so much at a time. We have a 90 gallon tank.
 
I feed them once a day but I don't know how much I give them. I suck some food up with a turkey Baster.
 
Yikes! Needs more rock. How far apart were those fish added? You should try to find someplace selling Base Rock. Way cheaper and it becomes Live Rock pretty quickly.
 
MacDracor said:
Yikes! Needs more rock. How far apart were those fish added? You should try to find someplace selling Base Rock. Way cheaper and it becomes Live Rock pretty quickly.

It is 50 lbs of live rock , never had a problem in the last 3 years, the fish were added 3 months a part over 2 years ago. I don't understand after a big turbo snail died my water turned cloudy and I got this brown crap all over my rock and sand
 
Have you removed the snail, or did you leave it? Why do you think the snail died?
I am guessing, because I'm not there, but I have a feeling whatever killed the snail is what is causing the algae as well. If a large snail died of natural causes and you left it in the tank, a piece of rotting flesh the size of a superball give or take is enough to effect your water to this extent.

Whatever the reason, a series of water changes will correct it.
 
That's what we have been soon water change after water change. I'm not sure why the snail dies maybe because it couldn't grow a bigger shell I don't know and I didn't catch it right away.
 
If the water parameters weren't sufficient for the snail to grow it's shell, then it's possible that's what killed it, but then all that means is you didn't do enough water changes.
After a series of water changes, your tank will clear.
How long has this been going on?
How many water changes have you done since, and how many gallons were they?
 
We have done 4 water changes at 25%, and we buy 8 gallons of rodi water every week for our auto top off.
 
And it's still cloudy? What are the parameters now? Are you sure something else isn't dead in the tank causing this?
 
Nothing is dead in the tank right now. I tested the water yesterday . My ph is at 8.4, ammonia is at 0, nitrate is at 10 mg, nitrite is 0.1 or below and calcium is at 400mg
 
I was going to by another phosban reactor for the carbon. Do you know of what is the best one to buy for this. Also I have one for the phosphate and I'm trying to figure out with product is good for this also. Thanks
 
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