martyheidi

my water condition is pretty good although i do live in quite a hard water area,my problem is i have put white gravel in the bottom of the tank and it is starting to turn brown, if i take a good handful out of the tank and run it through water rubbing it together it gets rid of the brown substance,this brown substance has started appearing on a jug and plastic plant and also the heater if i remove these and rub with my finger over the surface it gets rid of it ,it dosn`t seem to be affecting the fish in any way but dosn`t look very nice .My question is what is the brown substance?

Meenu

welcome to fl.

algae. I have the brown on my decor as well. do you get natural sunlight on the tank? what kind of fish and how many?

redlessi

Welcome to Fishlore!!!!

It is probably the brown algae called diatoms. They come to newly set up tanks as they establish. They can also come from overfeeding and not enough light. Try leaving the lights on for at least 8 hours. You can wipe it away and after a while they will go away on their own.

Meenu

Ooh, I didn't know that about not enough light. Thanks, reds! Mine are on for 7 hours right now, so should I up them to 10? 12?

redlessi

As long as its not direct sun light. When I had the diatoms, I stopped overfeeding my fish and kept the lights on for at least 8-10 hours and it went away. Not sure if they need to be on any longer than that. Once the tank is established they will usually go away on their own. They are just a little unsightly if you ask me.

navyscuba

The diatoms will go away as soon as the tank establish itself after a while. The bacteria will consume this algae little by little.

martyheidi

thanks for your help i will leave my lights on for longer now i know,i havn`t got it in direct sunlight so will have to get a timer to make sure it comes on for at least 8 hours a day and see how i go.Martyn

haedra

I know it's unsightly, and feel free to keep the lights on as suggested; but don't get your hopes up that it will disappear.

When I had them in my newly cycled tank I kept my own lights on as well, and it did nothing to get rid of them. I just had to wait them out.

If this was a more mature tank I would say different, but because it is a new setup this will all resolve itself in its own time.

Then you get to clean the green algae!

Lord of Tetras

yep i'v seen it in tanks before, if your tank has alot of sunlight comming in on it or just alot of light it can make algae grow like crazy.

Nutter

Definitley diatoms. Navyscuba is right. The only cure is time. They usually last for 3-18 months & will slowly dissapear once the tank starts to mature properly. I disagree with the others that longer lighting hours will help get rid of it. More intense lighting will help but not longer hours IMO. I've had diatoms in tanks with the lights on for 12hrs a day & the only thing that had any effect was increasing the intensity of the lighting & simply waiting it out. Changes to lighting hours made no difference at all. Bristlenose catfish will eat diatoms but I don't know the stock in your tank so I can't say if it is suitable for you to have one.