Help my tank is brown

[ejones4Christ]

Oceanic 46 gallon bow front
20 pounds of live rock
Marine land 350 Canister Filter
Current 36" 2x96Watt Dual Satellite that runs 24-Hour
1 Maxijet 1200 power head

Fish: 2damsel and 2 Chromos who are really making a mess of my tank this is the First cycle
The tank has been running for 2 mths.
My tank has turn brown over night is this normal?

My PH is through the roof 9.2 the Nitrate are below 40ppm and my nitrite below 5ppm Alkalinity is 150

I can not take the way it look what should I do, I am considering doing a 50% water change and then added Marineland BIO-Spira,

Help

 

[slowradio]

you need to do that water change asap. your ph isn't the only thing out of whack here.

 

[drummereef]

1. Do you use Tap or RO/DI water?
2. What test kits are you using?
3. How are you testing for pH?
4. Are you dosing anything?


Your tank is new. Diatom blooms are common in newly cycling tanks. It should go away on its own. The use of RO/DI water is highly recommended. Sounds like you are just coming down from the ammonia and nitrite spike and are nearing the end of the cycle. Do not add any more livestock until ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate are 0. I would also do a water change asap to help normalize your parameters. I would just do the water change and skip the Bio-Spira.

 

[kevin2000]

What exactly is brown ... the water or the substrate/rock?

A PH of 9.2 is highly unlikely unless you have dumping additives into the tank ... probably a bad PH reading.

A two month old tank should be cycled ... as such you should show zero nitrites.

Suggest you take a water sample down to your LFS and have them test for the basics (PH, ammonia, nitrite and nitrate). Not sure what test kit your using but it doesn't seem like your getting accurate readings so you might consider "upgrading" your test kit .. lots of threads discussing test kits.

While I am still unsure of "brown" you should note that new tanks are subject to diatom blooms ... they create a nice brown layer of algae that covers the substrate and LR. Diatom blooms are no big deal and are not going to harm anything in the tank .. a few snails will make short work of that if your patient.

 

[demonsp]

Did i read this right , you leave lights on 24/7 ? Also i would do 30% water change next 2 changes. Is this a FOWLR tank. Also reccomend more LR. Hows the flow and do you have skimmer ?

 

[ejones4Christ]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10145227#post10145227 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by drummereef
1. Do you use Tap or RO/DI water?
2. What test kits are you using?
3. How are you testing for pH?
4. Are you dosing anything?


Your tank is new. Diatom blooms are common in newly cycling tanks. It should go away on its own. The use of RO/DI water is highly recommended. Sounds like you are just coming down from the ammonia and nitrite spike and are nearing the end of the cycle. Do not add any more livestock until ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate are 0. I would also do a water change asap to help normalize your parameters. I would just do the water change and skip the Bio-Spira.

My glass and the sand has a brown fim on it. It was white now it is brown. The test kit is called . Jungle Labs 6-In-1 Quick Dip Test
URL: https://www.petmountain.com/show_product/512210

 

[ejones4Christ]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10145315#post10145315 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by kevin2000
What exactly is brown ... the water or the substrate/rock?

A PH of 9.2 is highly unlikely unless you have dumping additives into the tank ... probably a bad PH reading.

A two month old tank should be cycled ... as such you should show zero nitrites.

Suggest you take a water sample down to your LFS and have them test for the basics (PH, ammonia, nitrite and nitrate). Not sure what test kit your using but it doesn't seem like your getting accurate readings so you might consider "upgrading" your test kit .. lots of threads discussing test kits.

While I am still unsure of "brown" you should note that new tanks are subject to diatom blooms ... they create a nice brown layer of algae that covers the substrate and LR. Diatom blooms are no big deal and are not going to harm anything in the tank .. a few snails will make short work of that if your patient.

My glass and the sand has a brown fim on it. It was white now it is brown. The test kit is called . Jungle Labs 6-In-1 Quick Dip Test
URL: https://www.petmountain.com/show_product/512210

 

[ziac]

you are having a diatom bloom first do a water change cut your lighting back to 12 hours if you want to add any thing i would put in a couple of mexian turbo snails they rock on diatoms I put 2 in my 29 gal when i had mine they cleared the whole tank in 2 days You might look at getting a different test kit also when you go to the lsf for the snails have them check your water for a control on the ones you aare useing to see if it reads ok

 

[gummi]

They are diatoms. It's normal. I'd recommend just doing a quick toothbrush cleanup once a day until they go away in about 2 - 3 weeks.