brown spots in new tank!

[JASONinNM]

Hello iv had a new SW tank running for about 4-5 weeks not with about 37 lb of live rock... two demels and two clows... demels I heard was a great fish to start out with but pretty aggresive. The two clows surprisingly don't seem to mind eachother. But it seems like this is too much for a newly running tank? I just was givin the clows on the spare of the moment and didn't have anywhwere else to put them! Anyways, recently iv upgraded the lighting to a four bulber and put in two power heads which I might think are way too much current so they are both turned to give half the power... they are a 50 and 70 aquaclear heads... iv noticed brownish spots all in substrate as well as the glass near the sand bed. And some shown on the live rock. Its a brownish/yellow dirty tint and I was wondering if this was just a normal process or is something bad happening! I will check water levels with the few test I have when I get home and update the tanks and my progress! Please help me out with what u think it could be!

 

[Just.A.Bit.Salty]

Your in no trouble, most likely this is just a sign that your tank is actually cycled! You may see it on some rocks the sand and even on your glass.

 

[thominil]

They are just diatoms, just part of the tank's maturing process. They will go away just as fast as they came. As for the damsels, they will get pretty aggressive so you may want to think about taking them back to wherever you got them. Don't add anything for a bit and let the tank stabilize for a while.

 

[JASONinNM]

Thanks guys.... I'm relieved that this is most likely not a problem... I also was settting up a refugium on an other tank that my sister in law gave me and can't figure out how to get the water flowing threw the u hose or from the overflow to the sump??? I can't get it or ANY sciphons going at that... is there a special technique???

 

[David S]

make sure you have both overflow boxes full of water,push an air hose up the u tube and suck the air out,keep filling the boxes while doing this,dont worry about the last bit of air as this will be pushed out of the tube when the flow is running

 

[JASONinNM]

Thanks! After a few trys I got it!! About how long is this browness going to happen? Seems like its just getting worse... notice it more on the glass and stuff now

 

[Sqasnatch]

the diatoms will go away once there food source is depleted. something in the water is feeding it. do a few water changes, you could try silicate and phosphate removing media. i have the same problem right now. i was dumb and used tap water though.

 

[JASONinNM]

What do u mean you used tap water?

 

[Sqasnatch]

I used tap water instead of ro water. Tap water bad. Will cause algea outbreaks. If your using tap, that is your problem

 

[JASONinNM]

Well seeing as i don't have an RO machine or can afford one. What's another or cheaper alternative???!

 

[Sqasnatch]

Buy water from the grocery store. 8 gallon for 2 or 3 dollar I think

 

[Sqasnatch]

Culligan bottles.

 

[thincat]

One thing not talked about is feeding. Don't overfeed and feed them every other day.

 

[Rscomia]

Go to wally world and look for a water that is processed by ro I found that the great value drinking water is also at the wally world I go to it has a culligan water dispenser that produces ro water it was like $1.85 for 5 gallons

 

[JASONinNM]

Wow this looks like what I'm gonna have to do! Iv turned the lights to a less schedule and have them turned on less time. Do to I heard it needs nutrients and lighting... so I'm gonna try and starve it off... any other techniques!

 

[dlsrks]

I cant afford an RO machine right now either. I have been using distilled water, but if you have a fish store that has reef aquariums they usually have RO water they will sell you for half the price of the distilled water. Just get a large container to take to the store and they will sell you RO water for your aquarium.