What is the brown stuff growing on the gravel in my fish tank (It's not poop)?

Answer 1

are you sure its actually growing on the gravel? If so, its algea. If not, then it could be anything from decaying food, to decaying plants. Either case, vaccum it up when you clean the tank.

Answer 2

Unless you have an understocked 55-gallon tank, do not listen to these people telling you to buy a pleco, as they have no clue what they're talking about. Plecos will quickly outgrow anything smaller. They may also eat any other fish you have in your tank.

Yes, it sounds like algae. Your best bet at this point is to do a water change using a gravel vacuum to try to suck out some of the algae. Do not do anything more than 30% of your water.

Have you tested your nitrates lately? They may be high. Is your tank in sunlight? Try moving it to a darker area or closing your curtains. How long do you keep your aquarium light on? Try leaving it off for a couple of days.

If all else fails, you can get an algicide. Be careful what kind you get. There are some that contain copper, which is harmful to many freshwater fish, and is very difficult to remove from the water. Also, if you have an snails or other invertebrates, or any plants, an algicide may kill them. If you do have plants or invertebrates, see if your local pet store has Algae Magic by Weiss. It's an organic algicide that won't harm any of your fish or plants. Unfortunately, it is on the expensive side. If you don't have snails or plants, you can get Algae Fix or any other algicide as long as it doesn't have copper in it.

Good luck!

Answer 3

They are diatoms. These creatures are not harmful, and many algae eating fish love them. However, if they are truoblesome, try replacing your light bulb,as they are caused by low light

DO NOT GET A PLECO. Unless you find a bristlenose or rubbernose that is, those are fine. A common grows well over 2 feet, and you can guess the rest. Also, if you dont like brown stuff, those plecos will continue to make it ,if you get what i mean. Otos another common algae eater, are very delicate, and can die even in experienced hands. The siamese algae eater is great albeit a bit large at 5", though can easily be confused with the delicate and aggresive flying fox. The chinese algae eater will eventually kill off your other fish by sucking on their slime coat. Just change the bulb, this should eliminate diatoms, and all other things just use an algae scraper

Answer 4

It is a type of algae. Where as green algae (the most common) is bad for your fish and the health of your over all tank. Brown algae is actually good. I'm not saying to let it get out of control, but it isn't bad to have a little here and there. When shopping for an algae eater the best to get would be a Chinese Algae Eater (Otocenclis not sure on spelling), the love brown algae.

Answer 5

The brown stuff on the bottom of your tank is Brown algae. Algae is a rootless plant that feeds of the nitrogen and phosphates in your aquarium. algae occurs naturally and is normally harmless. An overabundance of algae can be caused by several things.
Keeping your aquarium lights on all the time.
Not cleaning the "poop" from the rocks periodically with some sort of siphon.
High nitrogen and phosphate levels in your city water.
Poor water circulation.
Forgetting to change out water in your aquarium routinely.

You can greatly reduce the amount of algae in your aquarium by making sure these items are taken care of.
The reference source I have include will give you much more details on this topic.

Thanks!
Eric B.

Answer 6

That sounds like brown algae. Which generally indicates you've got poor water quality. (High nitrates/nitrites???) Are you using a gravel vacuum once a week? Is your filter running okay? Is the aquarium getting too little light. (Green algae too much light, brown algae to little) You might want to consider testing your water. Either with a kit, or finding a pet store that will test a sample of your water for you.

Answer 7

could be leftover food, I had that problem until I got some Chinese Algae Eaters, they cleaned the gravel really well, plus I cut back on the food some.

Answer 8

Algae! Hehe nasty stuff to have, if you get an algae eatter they do wonders, I really can tell the difference when i don't have one. But if you don't want to buy an algae eatter, their is also a tank buddy thing that gets away the algae, it's called no more algae. . . heheh no kidding! lol, but anyways good luck w/ that!

Answer 9

It also could be dead cells off of the fish, but most likely it's uneaten food. Do not feed them more than the recommended amount per day, it's easy to overfeed them and cause health issues that way.

Answer 10

...um lol It means its time to clean the fishtank. If it wasnt like that when you bought it, its algea and old food and god knows what else. If the gravel is old, you should probably buy entirely new stuff cuz it probably wont come off.