AIKakashi
Aquarium Advice Apprentice
Okies. first the basics.
1. My tank is 26 gals.
2. kept at about 71-74 degrees
3. Brackish water- 1 tablespoon per ever 5 gallons of water
4. contains fake plants, pebbles, and large rocks from Lake Superior in Michigan.
5. Contains only 1 green puffer fish
6. water changed ever 1 to 2 weeks. (Usually 30%, salt added)
7. The tank came with a white halogen light
8. all levels seem to be ok with the tank except the Nitrate which is just at stress level.
9. The Puffer seems to be uneffected by both my problem, and the Nitrate level. He eats extremely well, he swims boyantly, his body shows no signs of stress or illness.
10. I feed frozen brineshrimp (After thawed of course) 1x a day (Use to be 2x but I cut it back when I started having these tank problems.) I tried bloodworms, which he likes alright, but he enjoys the brine shrimp more.
11. I change my filter insert once every 3 weeks to 1 month.
Here's my problem...
My tank is constantly filled with this brownish-rusty color "stuff". its a film that grows over the rocks, (Fake) plants and the walls of the tank.
(Here's a pic)
That is the second time it happened. Both the aquarium store near me, and another website told me it was "brown Algae".
One advice site told me to do a 25 to 30% water change, wash down the rocks, plants and such since the brown Algae just wipes off, then add a tablespoon of salt.
That worked for like a week, but the algae came back. The Aquarium store told me to do another water change, treat the water for 5 days with these tablet medicines called Maracyn then do another water change. But when I asked a Brackish water puffer know-all about Maracyn they said not to use it. (Something about puffers not having a natural slimey skin layer that could be effected by Maracyn.)
So I did another water change, only this time I changed 50% of the water, scrubbing off all of the pebbles, the large rocks and the fake plants, and the walls of the tank so that there was no brown algae left. That worked for a week or so. but it came back.
So Against the advice, I treated the water with the Maracyn the aquarium store gave me, and that didn't seem to do anything at all.
So another puffer knowall told me that I was cleaning my tank too often, that it was too clean, the brown algae is caused by excess nutrients in the water, and that brackish puffers like a certian amount of ick. If the water is too clean, this could happen.
So they told me that I should not do anymore water changes for now, just add water if the water level starts to evaporate. Try not to add more salt for the time being, and the brown algae will eventually burn itself out. (In otherwords just go away on its own.)
Its been about 3 weeks to a month since the last water change, and the algae seems to be spreading rather than getting better.
I'm at my wits end. Sure the fish doesn't seem to be stressed at all by it, showing no signs of illness, but still, I like a clean tank that I can see through.
What should I do? Clean the tank more often? Try the Maracyn treatment again? Let it go for a while longer and see if it does start to burn out? I need advice PULEEZE!!!!!!
1. My tank is 26 gals.
2. kept at about 71-74 degrees
3. Brackish water- 1 tablespoon per ever 5 gallons of water
4. contains fake plants, pebbles, and large rocks from Lake Superior in Michigan.
5. Contains only 1 green puffer fish
6. water changed ever 1 to 2 weeks. (Usually 30%, salt added)
7. The tank came with a white halogen light
8. all levels seem to be ok with the tank except the Nitrate which is just at stress level.
9. The Puffer seems to be uneffected by both my problem, and the Nitrate level. He eats extremely well, he swims boyantly, his body shows no signs of stress or illness.
10. I feed frozen brineshrimp (After thawed of course) 1x a day (Use to be 2x but I cut it back when I started having these tank problems.) I tried bloodworms, which he likes alright, but he enjoys the brine shrimp more.
11. I change my filter insert once every 3 weeks to 1 month.
Here's my problem...
My tank is constantly filled with this brownish-rusty color "stuff". its a film that grows over the rocks, (Fake) plants and the walls of the tank.
(Here's a pic)
That is the second time it happened. Both the aquarium store near me, and another website told me it was "brown Algae".
One advice site told me to do a 25 to 30% water change, wash down the rocks, plants and such since the brown Algae just wipes off, then add a tablespoon of salt.
That worked for like a week, but the algae came back. The Aquarium store told me to do another water change, treat the water for 5 days with these tablet medicines called Maracyn then do another water change. But when I asked a Brackish water puffer know-all about Maracyn they said not to use it. (Something about puffers not having a natural slimey skin layer that could be effected by Maracyn.)
So I did another water change, only this time I changed 50% of the water, scrubbing off all of the pebbles, the large rocks and the fake plants, and the walls of the tank so that there was no brown algae left. That worked for a week or so. but it came back.
So Against the advice, I treated the water with the Maracyn the aquarium store gave me, and that didn't seem to do anything at all.
So another puffer knowall told me that I was cleaning my tank too often, that it was too clean, the brown algae is caused by excess nutrients in the water, and that brackish puffers like a certian amount of ick. If the water is too clean, this could happen.
So they told me that I should not do anymore water changes for now, just add water if the water level starts to evaporate. Try not to add more salt for the time being, and the brown algae will eventually burn itself out. (In otherwords just go away on its own.)
Its been about 3 weeks to a month since the last water change, and the algae seems to be spreading rather than getting better.
I'm at my wits end. Sure the fish doesn't seem to be stressed at all by it, showing no signs of illness, but still, I like a clean tank that I can see through.
What should I do? Clean the tank more often? Try the Maracyn treatment again? Let it go for a while longer and see if it does start to burn out? I need advice PULEEZE!!!!!!