Steff Posted April 14 Share Posted April 14 Hi there, I have a new 10 gallon tank that I have been trying to cycle for a few weeks. The tank has aqua soil capped with sand, however I noticed ever since the moment I set up the tank and added water, the water becomes yellow-orange / brown over just a few hours and some sort of brown algae begins to grow onto the tubing of my air stone. The tank was heavily planted so at first I thought maybe there was ammonia caused by some decaying plant I wasn’t seeing, so I cleaned up the soil, and cut off any plant ends that looked remotely dead. I tried doing 25% water changes every day, and then switched to 50% water changes everyday. This only slowed down the discolouration and algae but never remedied it. I completely gave up at one point and did a 100% water change and that didn’t change anything. After some deep research , I’ve come to the possible conclusion that my aquasoil may be leeching excess nutrients into the water column, thus causing ammonia spikes, discolouration and algae blooms ? Is this correct ? Please help, I was super excited for this tank, but this has really let me down. I’ll post some photos when I get back home, as I’m currently at work. Quote Link to comment
Nathans_Reef Posted April 14 Share Posted April 14 Do you have any wood in the tank? If yes then that's gonna be the most probable cause of the brown water as wood, leaves and other botanicals will leech tannings into the water, sort of like tea! And if that is the case then this will stop over time, especially with the regularity of your water changes. And it's definitely possible that the aquasoil is the cause of this nutrient spike, but i'm afraid there's no super helpful tip I can give you to fix this as you're already doing the perfect thing! Water changes are the key to dealing with aquasoil, that and fast plant growth. You might just have to wait it out and keep doing what it is that you're doing unfortunately. Another thing to add, how long are your lights on for? The more light, the more algae you'll get (At least until the tank becomes established and balanced) Quote Link to comment
Steff Posted April 14 Author Share Posted April 14 1 hour ago, Nathans_Reef said: Do you have any wood in the tank? If yes then that's gonna be the most probable cause of the brown water as wood, leaves and other botanicals will leech tannings into the water, sort of like tea! And if that is the case then this will stop over time, especially with the regularity of your water changes. And it's definitely possible that the aquasoil is the cause of this nutrient spike, but i'm afraid there's no super helpful tip I can give you to fix this as you're already doing the perfect thing! Water changes are the key to dealing with aquasoil, that and fast plant growth. You might just have to wait it out and keep doing what it is that you're doing unfortunately. Another thing to add, how long are your lights on for? The more light, the more algae you'll get (At least until the tank becomes established and balanced) Thank you for your reply ! I don’t use light for this tank because it gets natural window light, but even so it is never direct sunlight. My smaller 5 gallon tank is close by and receives the same amount of light and is doing well. I am very cautious with light due to the very reason of algae, as you suggested. I do have wood in my tank, I have two sorta chunky pieces of Malaysian driftwood. But when I got them I made sure to soak them a couple times over, and I don’t remember seeing and colour in the water. I’ve heard of what tannins from such wood does, but the wood in my other tank hasn’t done this. Should I take the wood out and see how it goes ? Do I need to boil it again ? Quote Link to comment
Nathans_Reef Posted April 14 Share Posted April 14 3 hours ago, Steff said: Thank you for your reply ! I don’t use light for this tank because it gets natural window light, but even so it is never direct sunlight. My smaller 5 gallon tank is close by and receives the same amount of light and is doing well. I am very cautious with light due to the very reason of algae, as you suggested. I do have wood in my tank, I have two sorta chunky pieces of Malaysian driftwood. But when I got them I made sure to soak them a couple times over, and I don’t remember seeing and colour in the water. I’ve heard of what tannins from such wood does, but the wood in my other tank hasn’t done this. Should I take the wood out and see how it goes ? Do I need to boil it again ? You shouldn't need to remove the wood, the wood probably isn't the cause of the brown water because if it was, then you probably would have seen it when you pre soaked it. I guess it's still possible that it's from the wood however, if it is then there's no need to worry it doesn't do any harm, it will slowly go away through water changes. Also in terms of lighting, using only ambient light will definitely give you the best chances of keeping algae at bay, just keep an eye on your plants for any pale leaves and deficiencies. You're already doing everything right to fix the situation, unfortunately it might just be a case of waiting it out! Quote Link to comment
Steff Posted April 15 Author Share Posted April 15 Just now, Steff said: This is the tank 1 Quote Link to comment
Nathans_Reef Posted April 17 Share Posted April 17 Since the water is still clear, just tinted brown, I'd say it definitely looks like tannings from the wood. The tannings will disappear over time through water changes Quote Link to comment
mcarroll Posted May 1 Share Posted May 1 Folks pay good money for supplements that do that....consider making the most of it. 🙂 1 Quote Link to comment
Steff Posted May 22 Author Share Posted May 22 On 5/1/2024 at 11:58 PM, mcarroll said: Folks pay good money for supplements that do that....consider making the most of it. 🙂 if it’s just tannings I’m super happy with that I’m just nervous to hurt my live stock in case I’m wrong. Also this brown sort of algae is growing on the tube connecting to my airstone. It comes back every week even though I clean it off .. is this stuff harmful to fish ? If the brown water isn’t tannings, would there be anything that would produce the dual symptoms of brown water and algae ? Thanks for the help 1 Quote Link to comment
mcarroll Posted May 22 Share Posted May 22 If you don't have a microscope, I recommend getting one....even a toy scope like this is good enough to look at algae: Super interesting to check these things out UP CLOSE. 👍 More than likely your brown algae is just diatoms – harmless and good snail food. 🙂 Do you have/Can you get a few Ramshorn snails? They will clean it up p pretty fast AND keep it mowed down. 4 hours ago, Steff said: If the brown water isn’t tannings, would there be anything that would produce the dual symptoms of brown water and algae ? Algae isn't that much of a mystery – it grows wherever there are light, space and nutrients. In general algae growth is a sign of a maturing HEALTHY tank. 🙂 1 Quote Link to comment
mcarroll Posted May 22 Share Posted May 22 Oh yeah...in addition to a 'scope, you may want to test your water for all the common things – ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, phosphate, etc. – your LFS may be able to do it for you if you don't have test kits yet. 1 Quote Link to comment
Nathans_Reef Posted May 24 Share Posted May 24 Don't worry about algae being harmful to your livestock, in fact apart from being a little unsightly, its actually going to be more benificial to the ecosystem in the aquarium! As @mcarroll said, it's a good sign of a maturing tank and is completely natural! The water will most definitely be tannings as you have a couple chunks of wood inside, again not harmful in any way unless you have any hard water and high ph loving fish like cichlids, but you dont have to worry about that 🙂 Quote Link to comment
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