# Whats wrong with my tank?



## kgh (Jun 25, 2007)

I have a 10g nano sw tank with no inverts, just a fowlr. The water is a greenish brownish color that it has been since it has started. The tanks been running for a good year now and I can't solve the problem. I have 15lbs of lr.... Heres the readings.
PH- 8.0
Ammonia- 0
Nitrite-0
Nitrate-0
sg-1.021
Perfect, just what I thought but apparently something wrong because the tank looks bad, real bad. And I'd like it too look nice as possible. 
By the way I just have one clown goby in it.

KGH


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## predator (Jan 28, 2005)

how often do you do water changes?

Do you run a skimmer?

-me


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## kgh (Jun 25, 2007)

predator said:


> how often do you do water changes?
> 
> Do you run a skimmer?
> 
> -me


No skimmer, fish shop said I would not need one with such a small tank.
I usually do water changed weekly (around 25%), but these past two months I've been trying them 3 times a week:shock: and no difference.


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## Ricker (Nov 23, 2007)

I had same prob. Get 4 margarita snails. They love brown algae. Also get 2-4 turbo snails. Give them a week and algae should be under control. Also have you upgraded light or downgraded light any time soon. Also a skimmer is not needed in this small of a tank. what kind of filter? And how many GPH does it let out. make sure to change pad on it every 2-3 weeks. Also get a cleaner shrimp.


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## Guest (Feb 15, 2008)

kgh said:


> No skimmer, fish shop said I would not need one with such a small tank.
> I usually do water changed weekly (around 25%), but these past two months I've been trying them 3 times a week:shock: and no difference.


That's crap. Smaller tanks should have even better filtration as the water is less stable than in higher volume tanks. Get a skimmer pronto. Also, check your phosphate levels.



Ricker said:


> I had same prob. Get 4 margarita snails. They love brown algae. Also get 2-4 turbo snails. Give them a week and algae should be under control.


The poster said the problem was the water being a greenish/brown color. Snails won't take care of algae blooms in the water column. Even then, that wouldn't solve the problem as to why the algae blooms are occuring.

Most likely, there is a high nutrients level in your tank. Try to get the phosphate levels tested and make sure they are not too high.


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## kgh (Jun 25, 2007)

Scuba Kid said:


> That's crap. Smaller tanks should have even better filtration as the water is less stable than in higher volume tanks. Get a skimmer pronto. Also, check your phosphate levels.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Ok, so get a skimmer to filter my tank... Is a high nutrients level necessarily a bad thing?
KGH


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## Ricker (Nov 23, 2007)

Well I am just saying I had a algae outbreak and it made my water look thast color to. I got snails bam prob fixed in a week. though it could be something else.


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## predator (Jan 28, 2005)

I'm with scuba...

I totally forgot to ask about your filter... mainly because i dont run one... just power heads and a skimmer...

I have one of the lil nano skimmers from Fission... Its NOT great, but what can you expect for $20... but it does pull junk out of my tank... and my water is pretty clear... If you get one dont even bother with the lil filter disk... they dont really help with micro bubble and will eventually just clog and flood the collection cup...

What type of water do you use? (might be your source of the extra nutrients) Phosphates and algae dream...

-me


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## CollegeReefer (Sep 1, 2006)

2 words "Activated Carbon"


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## TheOldSalt (Jan 28, 2005)

Yep. Between a skimmer and some carbon, your water should clear up nicely. You might also switch to distilled water instead of faucet water, since your faucet water may well have something in it which is keeping your water changes from working.

Are high nutrients a bad thing?
Well, you're the one with brown water; You tell me.


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## kgh (Jun 25, 2007)

TheOldSalt said:


> Yep. Between a skimmer and some carbon, your water should clear up nicely. You might also switch to distilled water instead of faucet water, since your faucet water may well have something in it which is keeping your water changes from working.
> 
> Are high nutrients a bad thing?
> Well, you're the one with brown water; You tell me.


I meant if high nutrients are bad for the fish? I know they look awful.

I went to my lfs and I bought a Bio-wheel Power Filter. The kind man working there said he knew exactly whats up with my tanks, and as you guys said "too much nutrients". And he also said possible from over feeding.
Another thing he said to do is to turn the light off, I just have a regular hood lighting (for fw) and that causes algae.

The after it running for just under 2days the tank has not cleared up much since. I'll give more time though.

I've been thinking about the sand too. Looks pretty bad too. 
Would it be ok to get new live sand and add that? Take out the old and put my clown goby in a smaller tank while I do this?
And maybe take the lr out and give it a good scrubbing.
Also doing a 50% wc with water form my lfs, I've been using faucet water and maybe there water might turn out better.

I'm thinking of all the possible ideas to why my tank is so dirty.
KGH


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## Fishfirst (Jan 24, 2005)

slow down... less is more  

questions:
1) how often are you changing your filter media?
2) how long are your lights on during the day?
3) how much are you feeding? (times per day and how many minutes the food sits in the water column)

answers: 
I meant if high nutrients are bad for the fish? I know they look awful. _it really depends on the nutrients, high nutrients have been linked to some common diseases, but that is mainly nitrates_

I went to my lfs and I bought a Bio-wheel Power Filter. The kind man working there said he knew exactly whats up with my tanks, and as you guys said "too much nutrients". And he also said possible from over feeding.
Another thing he said to do is to turn the light off, I just have a regular hood lighting (for fw) and that causes algae. _this is probably not the problem unless you're running the light over 11 hrs/day _

The after it running for just under 2days the tank has not cleared up much since. I'll give more time though. _this can have some nasty affects on your liverock... if there are things on it that are photosynthetic, they could be in jepordy_

I've been thinking about the sand too. Looks pretty bad too. 
Would it be ok to get new live sand and add that? Take out the old and put my clown goby in a smaller tank while I do this? _no need to do this, but a siphoning of the sand could help_
And maybe take the lr out and give it a good scrubbing. _no need unless you have nussiance microalgae on the liverock, this may do more harm than good _
Also doing a 50% wc with water form my lfs, I've been using faucet water and maybe there water might turn out better._key word might, some lfs's don't have the best water available, check if its ro or ro/di or whatever it might be... ask them the TDS... if they don't know ask them how often the membrane is changed, also ALWAYS check the salinity of lfs water... some cut corners and don't add enough salt _

I'm thinking of all the possible ideas to why my tank is so dirty.
KGH 

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## kgh (Jun 25, 2007)

Good news guys, the tank finally cleared up. It looks good now. But now since it is cleared up I want more color in it. If there is any corals or something that will work in regular lighting, that would be awesome. 
KGH


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