Can’t shift brown discolouration in marine tank

[boothsf]

We have been struggling with what we think is brown bacteria in our water. Initially this clung to everything sand, rock, tank but now it seems to just be in the water causing discolouration after we took some marine water from a local fish shop. What could be causing this and how do we clear the water?

 

[Dread Pirate Dave]

How long has the tank been set up? How often do you feed your fish? Bacteria need a food source of some sort. A UV sterilizer may help clear things up.

 

[Tamberav]

A small UV would probably help but where do you get your water from?

 

[boothsf]

How long has the tank been set up? How often do you feed your fish? Bacteria need a food source of some sort. A UV sterilizer may help clear things up.

It is set up 6 months ago. Once a day

 

[boothsf]

A small UV would probably help but where do you get your water from?

We get RO water off a RO membrane system.

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

You should aim one of those powerheads at the surface to create agitation and help oxygenate the water.

Do you mix your own water or buy from the LFS? What do you mean you "took some marine water from a local shop"? You should never add LFS water into your tank.

 

[boothsf]

You should aim one of those powerheads at the surface to create agitation and help oxygenate the water.

Do you mix your own water or buy from the LFS? What do you mean you "took some marine water from a local shop"? You should never add LFS water into your tank.

We mix our own water. We took the LFS water from the shop as it was recommended to try build nitrate in the tank. This seemed to get us past the worse of the brown algae. We are also running a protein skimmer.

 

[Tamberav]

We mix our own water. We took the LFS water from the shop as it was recommended to try build nitrate in the tank. This seemed to get us past the worse of the brown algae. We are also running a protein skimmer.

Ahh don’t do this. They probably meant to cycle the tank but it’s better to just buy some bottled bacteria if you wanted that.

RO? As in no DI portion? Have you tested the TDS?

 

[boothsf]

Ahh don’t do this. They probably meant to cycle the tank but it’s better to just buy some bottled bacteria if you wanted that.

RO? As in no DI portion? Have you tested the TDS?

What would you recommend to buy? We are struggling to build nitrate even with 2 clowns, a royal gamma, goby, fire shrimp, cleaner shrimp and pistol shrimp. The RO water is 45 microsiemens or 19 ppm, from a chemical processing plant.

 

[Tamberav]

What would you recommend to buy? We are struggling to build nitrate even with 2 clowns, a royal gamma, goby, fire shrimp, cleaner shrimp and pistol shrimp. The RO water is 45 microsiemens or 19 ppm, from a chemical processing plant.

The 19ppm could be the issue, RODI unit can get you to 0 which is ideal. I suggest you make your own water.

What are your nitrate and phosphate levels now?

 

[boothsf]

The 19ppm could be the issue, RODI unit can get you to 0 which is ideal. I suggest you make your own water.

What are your nitrate and phosphate levels now?

Nitrate and phosphate are both 0

 

[Tamberav]

Nitrate and phosphate are both 0

May be being used by whatever is blooming.

PO4 is often sucked up by new dry rock.

A small UV and RODI would be the first thing to try switching. Make sure there is lots of surface agitation, blooms like that can suffocate fish as it also rapidly uses oxygen.

 

[boothsf]

May be being used by whatever is blooming.

PO4 is often sucked up by new dry rock.

A small UV and RODI would be the first thing to try switching. Make sure there is lots of surface agitation, blooms like that can suffocate fish as it also rapidly uses oxygen.

Thank you. We have pointed a power head for surface agitation. We have purchased nitrifying bacteria. Do you have any recommendations for the small uv and RODI for an 85L tank? Would you add an additional air stone in, fish all seem happy and feeding well

 

[Tamberav]

Thank you. We have pointed a power head for surface agitation. We have purchased nitrifying bacteria. Do you have any recommendations for the small uv and RODI for an 85L tank? Would you add an additional air stone in, fish all seem happy and feeding well

Oxygen will drop and CO2 increase at night when the lights are off, an air stone can't hurt.

RODI's are all pretty standard housings other than RO Buddy which uses its own filters. You could pick up small TDS meter (they are cheap and it will be useful in determining when to change the RODI's filters) and test your tap water. This will give you a good idea if you need any extra cartridges on your RODI but usually the standard set up works well.

One of the main things is to make sure the DI part is vertical - the membrane will be sideways but vertical DI canister helps use the media more even.

 

[Northern Flicker]

What kind of sand is that? It doesn't look calcium based. If it's pool filter sand you may have some issues.

 

[boothsf]

What kind of sand is that? It doesn't look calcium based. If it's pool filter sand you may have some issues.

It is live reef sand.

 

[boothsf]

Oxygen will drop and CO2 increase at night when the lights are off, an air stone can't hurt.

RODI's are all pretty standard housings other than RO Buddy which uses its own filters. You could pick up small TDS meter (they are cheap and it will be useful in determining when to change the RODI's filters) and test your tap water. This will give you a good idea if you need any extra cartridges on your RODI but usually the standard set up works well.

One of the main things is to make sure the DI part is vertical - the membrane will be sideways but vertical DI canister helps use the media more even.

We have ordered a UV and will look to change where we get our water in between making our own.

 

[Moe K]

A brown bloom is usually diatoms. Those are from high silicates in your water source. A good new rodi unit should help resolve that. Sometimes it can be so bad a UV sterilizer only puts a tiny dent in it but it will not be fully resolved until you fix your source water. You could also try phosguard to remove silicates from the tank water but need to change it out often as it can exhaust in only a couple days.

 

[PharmrJohn]

Basically, you're going to have to clean up the water you put in there and practice some good Husbandry. I realize you're at the start of this whole journey and everything has a learning curve, but you're realizing some missteps here. With good Husbandry, the rule of thumb is that (without a nuclear problem solve), it'll take about as long to get out of this mess as it took to get into it. UV is fine and does come in handy at times, put patience will win out in the end.