why tank like this?

[sharky&george]

My tank looks dirty all the time i do 20-30% water change once a week and it def got algie as i said in a earlier post but i have a white coral ornament in there within days it is browny speckled, could it be that my fluval 3 is not big enough for a 128litre tank? I have added my fluval 1 to see if that makes a difference! And two of my tetras have cotton wool growths which i have been told is a fungal disease but i will treat that 2morro, should i also do salt baths if so how


thanks all

just read a post on water colour atc and wondered could it be my bogwood making the white coral thing brown?

 

[black angel]

the fluval 3 should be able to handle the filtration needed but it wont get rid of algae for you, and if its unsightly then can you get a small type of plec to clean it for you? how long has the tank been going for? brown algae is usually a sign of a young tank or theres not enough light to turn it green.
as for the fungus you can do a salt dip of 1.5 level teaspoons of salt to half a gallon of water and lower them in it for a few seconds but use tank water. fungus means you have either fish fighting and letting in bacteria or the water carries a lot of bacteria. doing larger and more frequent water changes will lower the bacteria count.

 

[sharky&george]

so do you suggest i do another water change now? how many a week?
I dont know if the brown on the ornament could be from the bogwood as there is green algie on the glass and gathers around the tgermometer? This tank has been going for about 6 weeks now but i transfered straight from my old tank which was okayed by the people on this site. Umm should i do a salt bath in a small tub then and how many times a day? Also what does that do to help?
the tetras i added about 2-3 weeks ago
Can i use just ordinary kitchen salt?

 

[black angel]

i would do two 40% changes a week for just now to keep the water in good condition. not enough in the way of water changes allows bacteria to build up and when fish become weakened then the bacteria can flood the system.
have you been checking the ammonia and nitrites of the tank to make sure it has cycled?
to be honest i'm not sure about the salt with neons. it's hard to judge whether or not they will take kindly to even being in a salt dip. as an alternative you can buy meds for mouth fungus and use that instead.
when algae build up on new ornaments it usually starts off as brown and as it grows it will turn green and the only way to keep ornaments ang glass clean is to either manually clean them or get a plec to do it for you. oto are a loach which eat algae too but are a nuisance to slower moving fish.
as your tank is still establishing more in the way of brown algae will appear before the green.

please wait for others to give their advice before giving the salt dips just in case the neons arent that salt tolerant. the salt kills the bacteria thats growing and aids the healing.dont use kitchen salt either.

 

[sharky&george]

thanks i dont think i will go for the salt dip incase goes wrong i will get meds in the morning and do a 40% water change 2morro. I worry about upheaving my plants to have a good clean of the gravel as they are sprouting roots would it matter to move them?

And i also have the easy tetra test kit which ive been told doesnt measure nitrate and ammonia so a new test kit will be on my shopping list 2morro too!

 

[black angel]

maracyn 1 and 2 is good at killing the bacteria which causes the mouth fungus and i think sarahbravo still has some for sale.
i dont know about moving the plants but if you have a spare tank then they should be ok to move.