# Brown stuff



## PuterChickFL

Hello all 

My 75 has been cycling for a couple of weeks and all seems well. I noticed that some areas are starting to turn brown. Some parts of the rock and some of the substrate. The part that seems to be more brown is the back of the tank behind the rocks, where there probably isn't much water move,ent from the pumps.

My 44 corner has a liverock that has a deep brown to it.

Diatoms? I just did a water change yesterday to both tanks.


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## ZebraDanio12

I would think. It goes away after a while


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## Da Cloud

Yeah you have diatoms, Its no big deal I had the same problem until I bought myself a sand sifting starfish. Ever since I've had him in my tank I haven't had any problems with diatoms.


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## OhYesItsMe

I think I have that on the sides of my 20, it comes off with an algae scrapper, it isnt harmful


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## funlad3

Diatoms for sure. If you add more flow, it goes away easily. You could even take a powerhead in your hand and just blast the rock. Even if you take no action, it should all go away within a week or two. Then comes the hair algae stage. That's a fun one... :lol:


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## PuterChickFL

uh oh, i think I have the hair algae already. I saw it kinda waving in the flow on one of my rocks. How do I deal with that? I will add some inhabitants this week.

I figured out the powerhead trick, I just changed the way they were facing and it sort of changed how it looked on the substrate.


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## funlad3

Hermit crab time.


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## PuterChickFL

funlad3 said:


> Hermit crab time.


okay! I'll be getting one soon


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## PuterChickFL

Got a few of them today, they were 99 cents . They are making their way around pretty good


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## funlad3

On a 75 gallon, I'd get at least 30 of them. When they decide they're hungry, they clean very well. Usually though, they're LAZY!!!


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## Blerty

I only have land hermit crabs


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## PuterChickFL

Oh wow that many? These guys are tiny too, and I noticed the tracks they are making as they seem to be clearing some of the diatoms on some of the rocks. Guess ill go and get a bunch. I'm planning on getting fish this weekend, maybe a couple of clarkii clowns or some thing.


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## Blerty

How I make thread


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## PuterChickFL

Okay I need to bring this back to life, this brown stuff isnt going anywhere, but not only that, i'm losing my CUC.

I lost a turbo snail a few days ago. he would be sort of "hanging" on the glass, so I knocked him off so he can restart his journey, but this time he didnt. I found his insides floating around the tank. today, I found my emerald green crab dead. My corner SW tank is doing absolutely great. No issues, crystal clear, no algae issues or brown or anything. this 75 is a huge problem!!!


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## funlad3

What kind of skimmer are you running?


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## kay-bee

What are your nitrate and phosphate levels and if you do no have photosynthetic livestock in the tank, what is your photo-period?

May or may not apply in your case, but some times the exoskeletons that emerald crabs shed as they grow resemble dead crabs.


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## PuterChickFL

@funlad, I'm not running a skimmer. I dont have the cabinet space underneath to have one, but I am running a canister.

@kay-bee I dont know my phosphate level but my nitrate only registered like 5 on my API test. I hope I didnt flush a live crab down the toilet!! I mean, he usually runs when i'm messing around in the tank, but he was in the same spot for 12 hours and he didnt move. his top shell literally fell off of him. 

it seems when I put in this 50/50 light my problems got worse. I'm putting my regular one back in.

what is photosynthetic livestock?


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## kay-bee

If it was live it will definately move. I just meant that the empty exoskeleton (which they cast off as they grow) will resemble a dead crab. It is possible that one would find a "dead crab" and toss it out, only to discover that the crab is still in the tank (and slightly larger). With that said, there's also little difference between a dead crab (which has been scavenged by micro-CUC)and an exoskelton too. I just meant to say that there's a slim chance your crab may still be in your tank.

By photosynthetic livestock I mean things like the type of corals and anemones, etc that utilize and require light to live. If these organisms aren't in the tank you can shorten the amount of time that the lights are on. 

In any case as the tank ages conditions will improve and the stuff you're seeing will eventually dissipate.


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## funlad3

Yeah, I'd look for a HOB (Hang on Back) protein skimmer. That should curb the diatoms in around a week. It would at least reduce its ability to grow back.


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## PuterChickFL

is there anything different I can do with my canister as far as the media? I've read in a few areas that it should be changed weekly and what's in it may have an impact.


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## funlad3

Canisters are useless beyond mechanical filtration in SW. If they aren't cleaned every three days, they'll give you nitrates, algae, and diatoms.


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## PuterChickFL

What about the carbon? That's not needed? My 44 corner also has a canister running but not as many issues.

So if I remove the canister I can remove the root of my issues here??? I can tell you right now I don't touch that thing any more often than once a month....that's all I did with FW. If you say yes they will be on CL today....


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## kay-bee

Canister filters can work with SW and reef set ups (I run a Rena Filstar XP2 canister filter with my 65gal reef tank); but they shouldn't be configured in the same manner as FW set ups (meaning no bio-media).

I initially had my canister configured for chemical (carbon and GFO) and mechanical filtration (50 & 100 micron filter pads), but these days I use just the micron filter pads (which I try to rinse out every week or two). When I rinse them they release skimmate-like matter, so they're definately capturing lots of particulate matter. I run a sump-less set up, that's why I use a canister.

I've got a light bioload in conjuction with lots of live rock and a deep sand bed so the canister is not operating as a 'nitrate factory' for me.

It has turned into an environment for filter feeders, though (lots of fan worms, pods and a bunch of sponges and sponge-like creatures have taken up residence in it).

How is your canister configured?


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## PuterChickFL

kay-bee said:


> How is your canister configured?


like normal I guess. I also have an XP2 on this tank (and a Marineland model on the other one). has the carbon, biostars, the black mesh things and the white things, everything that comes with it.

tell me how I should have this configured. Or should I just remove it.


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## PuterChickFL

oh, and I have my phosphate test kit, will test it in a minute after I have a quick bite. should I be testing for calcium as well?


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## PuterChickFL

phosphate reading is 1.0ppm


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## funlad3

Yeah, that's way high. Look into a skimmer; I seriously recommend it. The skimmer itself won't remove the phosphates, but it will prevent other organic material from breaking down into it.


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## PuterChickFL

kay-bee said:


> It is possible that one would find a "dead crab" and toss it out, only to discover that the crab is still in the tank (and slightly larger).


OMG I can't believe it. What I thought was a dead crab I took out the other day was indeed the skeleton. I just found my crab alive and well! LOL

funlad, what can I do immediately to help bring down the phosphates?


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## funlad3

Large water changes, or a phosphate reactor. Both are band aids. For the price you'll pay in salt to keep down the phosphates, or the price of a phosphate reactor, media, and the pump you'll need to run it, you can find a nice used skimmer online and fix the problem at the source.


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## kay-bee

PuterChickFL said:


> like normal I guess. I also have an XP2 on this tank (and a Marineland model on the other one). has the carbon, biostars, the black mesh things and the white things, everything that comes with it.
> 
> tell me how I should have this configured. Or should I just remove it.


That's an ideal configuration for a FW set up. If used in a SW set up you may want to remove the biomedia (the biochem stars). I'm not sure if by "white things" you mean ceramic biomedia or the white micro-filter pad, but if it's the former you may want to extract that too.

That will leave you with just the sponge filters, carbon and (possibly the white micro filtration pad if that is what you have). You could keep all of those but wash them weekly.

My XP2 cansister only has micron filter pads (this stuff cut to size (~6"x6": http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=3578+4136+4353&pcatid=4353 ); I have two 100 micron pads in the bottom basket and one 50 micron pad in the top basket...and that's it. One 18"x30" sheet goes a long way because they're rinsable/reusable for quite some time.

I agree that a phosphate reactor (using GFO, granular ferric oxide) will effectively address your phosphate issue. It will keep phosphate down to undectable levels (until the media is expended). You could add a bag of GFO and place it in your canister (along with your carbon); it won't as effective as a reactor but should still knock your phosphate down to 0ppm-0.03ppm.


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## PuterChickFL

Yea the white micro filters and the black spongy ones. I have ceramic things in my other tank tho, the 44.


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## funlad3

Those will get clogged amazingly quickly; I'd remove them altogether, and just run Carbon or Phosphate media. Or buy a skimmer.


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## PuterChickFL

Oh my.

I tested the phosphate in the other tank, and it's 2ppm. I tested water from the tap, and altho I dont get readings for anything else, phosphates are off the chart. it turns an insane ugly shade of green.

I bought some more micron filters and some Phos-Zorb. The black spongy things are never clogged when I do media changes.

I guess the phosphates dont bother the freshwater fish?


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## kay-bee

Phosphates have a negligible effect on fish (FW or SW); in a reef tank it can adversely affect stony coral development by impeding or interfering with the calcification process.

What phosphate does do (when combined with lighting) is fuel nuisance algae and other stuff (cyanobacteria, diatoms, etc).

I haven't had any issues with the micron filter pads clogging, but again I have a fairly light bio-load (3 small fish in a 65gal which I feed once every 3 days).


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## PuterChickFL

my bioload is fairly light also in the 75. the only thing I've added is CUC, i popped in two more turbos and a peppermint shrimp yesterday. He's in hiding already tho


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