jlong

Hi,
My first post! I've been feeding my fish Hikari Micro Pellets for about a month. Yellow, brown stains have been appearing on top of the silk flower decorations and on top of decorative rocks. The stains are not on the sides of these decorations so I think the stains are from falling food. I've tested the water and all readings are normal.

According to Hikari's website, the food contains "Yellow Granules - Vitamin & Mineral Granules that helps reduce stress while activating the immune system to reduce the chances of disease." I notice that my fish don't eat these granules as much as the other granules in the food.

I suspect the "minerals" in the food are the source of the staining. I've never had this problem with other flake food (and will be switching food) but I was curious if anyone else had this problem before?

Thanks!

COBettaCouple

Welcome to Fishlore.

Is this tank relatively new? That sounds like Diatoms - a brown type of algae that tends to appear in a tank soon after it is cycled.

jlong

Hi and thanks for the response,
Yes, it is a new tank, just over a month old. I researched diatoms yesterday and after looking at photos and descriptions, I did not think that was the problem. But you are correct, the timing is right. These mineral stains are tough and do not scrub off the rocks or decorations. Although I don't think I ever had diatoms in past tanks, I've never had a problem removing other types of algae. From what I read, I didn't think diatoms were that hard to remove because I read that there was some type of fish (I don't recall the type off of the top of my head) that ate diatoms, which would make me think diatoms were relatively easy to remove. But perhaps I'm wrong?

COBettaCouple

Diatoms usually wipe off pretty easily. Do you have a picture of this that you could post?

jlong

Here is a picture, hopefully it isn't too blurry...Let me know what you think
Thanks!

Attached Images

IMG_0181sm.jpg (297.1 KB, 8 views)

COBettaCouple

I'm not sure what that is. It looks very unusual for diatoms. Did it start on that rock? What is that rock?

jlong

I think it's sandstone. I first started to get some brown staining on the silk flowers, then on the sandstone rock (where it spread quickly), and now on some of the gravel.

COBettaCouple

Oh.. that may have something to do with it. Sandstone isn't a good one for aquariums.