A Few Questions I Need To Ask

[Spurry]

question 1,
i dont no weather i should do this but i turn of my top filter as if not the food just gets sucked in to it
when my fish have finished feeding i plug it back in, i found the pipe had come of so i reffitted it and noticed the pipe was slimy and i must
have disturded what every it was and its all now floating around in the water, should i remove and clean the tubes, my filter is built in and fiited across the rear of the tank?

question 2,
how long dose it take for all the brown algae to go?

question 3,
i found air bubble on my plant leaves what dose this mean?

and lastly for now,
why dose my water look like its got dust floating on the top of it?

 

[Mowbz]

question 1,
That fine if you want, just dont leave it off for long. Seems a bit odd it would suck it in at the surface?

question 2,
Depends on how long its been growing, and weather you can get it all out of the tank

question 3,
Plants photosynthesise. They take in nutrients from the water and what little carbon dioxide there if your not artificially injecting it, and give off oxygen. Plants on ground do it too, you breathe it. You can just see it happening under water. Its slow, but it happens. It can also happen if you have just changed the water as the water gives off its gas.

and lastly for now,
why dose my water look like its got dust floating on the top of it?

Depends on what it it, can you tell us? Could be dust...


Hope this helps!!

 

[Spurry]

the filter takes up all of the rear of the tank and to the top left there is a vent like this

whats the slimy white stuff?

when ive read about the brown algae most thing say it will clear its self after about 2 weeks is this true

could be dust but i thought the filter would clear it?

 

[Mowbz]

the filter takes up all of the rear of the tank and to the top left there is a vent like this
I get ya, fair enough. As i said, dont keep it off for long.

whats the slimy white stuff?
What does it look like and where is it? How long has it been there? Again, a pic would be handy. There are lots of things that could look like that.

when ive read about the brown algae most thing say it will clear its self after about 2 weeks is this true

This is brown diatoms in a new set up. If your tank is new its possible it could be this and yes they will clear under cycling, or fish will eat them

could be dust but i thought the filter would clear it?
What do you think it could be, based on whats around it? If not, again, a pic would be handy?

 

[Spurry]

ok here ya go best i could do with camera phone

dust

slimy stuf its like a covering white/cream in colour it on the heater and the photo bellow is the last section of the filter unit that pumps the filterd water
back in the tank and when i refitted the pipe some came off and my water looked like it was snowing..

 

[Spurry]

any one?

 

[Clarousel]

When you say slimy all I can think of is surface scum/film.. Can't really tell from the pictures whether it is or not though. Do you have good circulation and surface agitation? If you do then it's not scum/film.

 

[coldcazzie]

1. brown algae (diatoms) is very common in new tanks. It happens because there is low levels of ammonia present. More water changes would help, but mostly you just have to live with it until it goes by itself. Will be longer than 2 weeks though, sorry! How long has your tank been set up?

2. Air bubbles on the plants are either the plant producing oxygen through photosynthesis faster than it can dissolve into the water (therefore it forms a bubble), or it is left over from a water change. Either way, it is harmless.

3. turning the filter off during feeding is fine as long as you turn it back on again after all the food is eaten

4. The dust on the top - does it look like stuff from the tank or stuff from the air? If it's an open topped tank then the likelihood is that it's stuff that was floating and has just touched down on the water surface. If it's from the tank then it sounds like your filter is not moving the water surface enough: if the filter agitates the water surface sufficiently then any detritus gets drawn down and then gets sucked up into the filter. Or it lands on the substrate where you can hoover it up. I'd increase water changes and tank cleans to make sure there's not too much crud floating around.

5. Slimy white stuff is also common in new setups - particularly on rubber suction cups etc, and on wood. Suck it off with your siphon next time you clean. If you can rub it off with your finger and then suction it up that's even better.

6. If your filter is dirty, clean it! Thing like the pipes can be run under hot tap water. Any media (sponge, foam, rings, bio balls, etc) can be gently swished in old tank water and then put back into the filter.

 

[Spurry]

1. brown algae (diatoms) is very common in new tanks. It happens because there is low levels of ammonia present. More water changes would help, but mostly you just have to live with it until it goes by itself. Will be longer than 2 weeks though, sorry! How long has your tank been set up?

ok chees

2. Air bubbles on the plants are either the plant producing oxygen through photosynthesis faster than it can dissolve into the water (therefore it forms a bubble), or it is left over from a water change. Either way, it is harmless.

cheers

3. turning the filter off during feeding is fine as long as you turn it back on again after all the food is eaten

okely dokely

4. The dust on the top - does it look like stuff from the tank or stuff from the air? If it's an open topped tank then the likelihood is that it's stuff that was floating and has just touched down on the water surface. If it's from the tank then it sounds like your filter is not moving the water surface enough: if the filter agitates the water surface sufficiently then any detritus gets drawn down and then gets sucked up into the filter. Or it lands on the substrate where you can hoover it up. I'd increase water changes and tank cleans to make sure there's not too much crud floating around.

im not sure just looks like bits floating around and its a closed tank, i have 2 pumps one at the bottom and one at the top the surface flow i very good and i have quite a current flowing, i do 10% every week

5. Slimy white stuff is also common in new setups - particularly on rubber suction cups etc, and on wood. Suck it off with your siphon next time you clean. If you can rub it off with your finger and then suction it up that's even better.

its on the pipes may be i can take out the pumps and clean them

6. If your filter is dirty, clean it! Thing like the pipes can be run under hot tap water. Any media (sponge, foam, rings, bio balls, etc) can be gently swished in old tank water and then put back into the filter.

i change the white filter every week i will wash the pipes as well

 

[coldcazzie]

I'd do more than 10% a week... try upping it to 30% a week and see if that has any effect (to put things in perpective, I do 50% weekly minimum on both my tanks! )

 

[Spurry]

I'd do more than 10% a week... try upping it to 30% a week and see if that has any effect (to put things in perpective, I do 50% weekly minimum on both my tanks! )

do you do the 50% in one go or bit over a week?

 

[Clarousel]

I'd do more than 10% a week... try upping it to 30% a week and see if that has any effect (to put things in perpective, I do 50% weekly minimum on both my tanks! )

do you do the 50% in one go or bit over a week?

I think coldcazzie meant doing a 50% water change when you do your weekly tank maintenance.

 

[Spurry]

thats what I thought just checking so you would do 50% every week?

 

[Tizer]

i do 50% every weekend myself, actually thats a lie, sometimes i cant be bothered and do it every 2 weeks.

 

[CrazyAirborne]

50% at one time. Weekly on all four of my tanks. thats how I roll