herpetology! Posted February 19, 2012 Report Share Posted February 19, 2012 Hey, just wanting some info. I have been running this tank for a year and a half with pebble sized substrate. It has been planted on and off, with hyacinths making a big mess during the summer. It is very understocked, always has been, but no matter how much I try to clean up the gravel a cloud of brown tends to come up. Is it normal for a mature substrate to look like this? Its so nutrient starved that my plants had trouble growing for many months, so I am confused as to what is going on. It is fed a pinch of flake food daily with a dump of 2 blood worm cubes 2 times per week (for newts) as well as the rare feeder, but there hasn't been many in the last few months. I don't think it's really a problem, it's just kinda weird and I've never had a tank that was regularly cleaned like this have this brown cloud effect. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vallisneria Posted February 19, 2012 Report Share Posted February 19, 2012 Do you have any driftwood in the tank? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Niki Posted February 19, 2012 Report Share Posted February 19, 2012 I find the pebble size gravel tends to do this. Food and waste gets in between the gravel and it gets stired up when you gravel vac. I'd suggest you switch to sand, it is much easier to clean as the waste sits on top and is easily vacuumed out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
herpetology! Posted February 19, 2012 Author Report Share Posted February 19, 2012 (edited) Sand actually is something the newts would swallow, so it's a concern. I actually do have some driftwood in there and have some ammonite chunks that are kind of weathering down, but it does seem a bit excessive on the brown cloudness. I had hornwort in there as well. I don't think it's a chemically bad brownness, and man do my plants need any kind of nutrients they can get, I was just wondering if other people have had that kind of soily look to substrate after this long. It's something I'd like to mitigate a bit without doing gravel vacuums as i don't wanna move stuff around too much- the cichlids are paired! Edited February 19, 2012 by herpetology! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Niki Posted February 19, 2012 Report Share Posted February 19, 2012 Oops, sorry about giving ou some really bad info....ou should definety not use sand :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
herpetology! Posted February 19, 2012 Author Report Share Posted February 19, 2012 Yep no worries, I've kept reptiles and amphibians for over a decade, I definitely got a substrate size too big for their silly mouths. Even the brichardi cichlids are making nest with it, so it's rather neat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jvision Posted February 19, 2012 Report Share Posted February 19, 2012 Add a nice big canister filter (rated for 2x the size of your tank) - it will suck up a lot of the waste. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
herpetology! Posted February 19, 2012 Author Report Share Posted February 19, 2012 Is this brown stuff something to worry about?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jvision Posted February 20, 2012 Report Share Posted February 20, 2012 Not really, IMO. I mean over time it can build up and cause problems if you just leave it; but, since you're vacuuming it up when you do WCs, you should be fine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.