Brown spots or stains everywhere!!!

f!shRelaxMe · 03-19-2008, 08:59 AM

Please help!!!....I am in the process of cycling my 55g freshwater tank and I am in the stage where there is no ammonia detected, but there are still high levels of nitrite....When I came back home from a 3 day vacation...The walls of the tank, substrate rocks, plants, and other tank accessories had brown spots/stains on them...What caused this and should I clean the spots from everything? It doesn't look good....PLEASE HELP!!!

trashion · 03-19-2008, 10:20 AM

Calm down!

It's probably a type of algae AKA diatoms. Just clean it off with a scrubby pad. It's really common in new aquariums, so don't worry.

shade2dope · 03-19-2008, 10:50 AM

I dito what julie says,Its comes when the nitrite's do.You should be happy your very close to being done.But it could be from bad lightng or low o2levels but as you said your at that stage.

**TheOldSalt** · 03-19-2008, 10:54 AM

These are very common in new tanks.
The bad news is that they can last for months.
The good news is that they eventually do go away forever.

Basically, they tend to grow best when things in the tank aren't very good for higher plants. Once the tank becomes more suitable for higher plant growth, they fade away again.

oliesminis · 03-19-2008, 12:33 PM

scrub it off the glass but dont worry algae is common in new tanks

you may find this link ( http://freshaquarium.about.com/cs/ma...algaebrown.htm ) hope it helps

-olie

f!shRelaxMe · 03-20-2008, 07:12 PM

So....can I leave the brown algae in the tank? Should I clean it or will it just go away eventually? What should I do

f!shRelaxMe · 03-20-2008, 07:27 PM

Also...I've been cycling my tank for....it will be 4 weeks this Sunday (3/23/08)...and the ammonia level is 0 but the nitrites are high and haven't even shown a glimpse of going down for the week and a half....Is this normal in the cycling process?

COM · 03-21-2008, 06:49 AM

Do a partial water change and scrub the algae off of the glass with an algae brush. That should help with your nitrites and your algae.

03-19-2008, 08:59 AM	#1
f!shRelaxMe Junior Member Join Date: Mar 2008 Posts: 5	Brown spots or stains everywhere!!! Please help!!!....I am in the process of cycling my 55g freshwater tank and I am in the stage where there is no ammonia detected, but there are still high levels of nitrite....When I came back home from a 3 day vacation...The walls of the tank, substrate rocks, plants, and other tank accessories had brown spots/stains on them...What caused this and should I clean the spots from everything? It doesn't look good....PLEASE HELP!!!

03-19-2008, 10:20 AM	#2
trashion girl anachronism Join Date: Aug 2007 Posts: 1,409	Calm down! It's probably a type of algae AKA diatoms. Just clean it off with a scrubby pad. It's really common in new aquariums, so don't worry. __________________ current setup: 5.5 gallon low-light planted tank -nothing....thinking a mini-community. for reference: my name is Julie

03-19-2008, 10:50 AM	#3
shade2dope Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2007 Age: 19 Posts: 370	I dito what julie says,Its comes when the nitrite's do.You should be happy your very close to being done.But it could be from bad lightng or low o2levels but as you said your at that stage. __________________ 3 Aulonocara Sp Maleri 2 female Two eletric blu ali 1 male 1 female,Clown Pleco,abn,Yellow Lab Two Haplochromis ruby green and some juvies, two flame backs one female, compressicep,Fancy Guppies Goby Dragon,Jack Demsey,Altolamprologus calvus (Chaitika)

03-19-2008, 12:33 PM	#5
oliesminis FISH ARE FREINDS NOT FOOD Join Date: May 2007 Location: England, Milton Keynes Age: 16 Posts: 497	scrub it off the glass but dont worry algae is common in new tanks you may find this link ( http://freshaquarium.about.com/cs/ma...algaebrown.htm ) hope it helps -olie __________________ OllieCoxPhotography

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03-19-2008, 10:54 AM	#4
TheOldSalt Darth Ichthyos Join Date: Jan 2005 Posts: 4,476	These are very common in new tanks. The bad news is that they can last for months. The good news is that they eventually do go away forever. Basically, they tend to grow best when things in the tank aren't very good for higher plants. Once the tank becomes more suitable for higher plant growth, they fade away again.

03-20-2008, 07:12 PM	#6
f!shRelaxMe Junior Member Join Date: Mar 2008 Posts: 5	So....can I leave the brown algae in the tank? Should I clean it or will it just go away eventually? What should I do

03-20-2008, 07:27 PM	#7
f!shRelaxMe Junior Member Join Date: Mar 2008 Posts: 5	Also...I've been cycling my tank for....it will be 4 weeks this Sunday (3/23/08)...and the ammonia level is 0 but the nitrites are high and haven't even shown a glimpse of going down for the week and a half....Is this normal in the cycling process?

03-21-2008, 06:49 AM	#8
COM Rebel Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Buffalo, NY Posts: 753	Do a partial water change and scrub the algae off of the glass with an algae brush. That should help with your nitrites and your algae.

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