Is live rock supposed to turn brown in my salt watter aquarium?

Question

Ive let the tank cycle for about a month and a half now, my local fish shop checked the water and said it was alright to get fish, so I bought a cleaner shrimp, and a clown. The Clown died two days after because Oodinium. Now its only the cleaner shrimp in there, and its been about a week since the clown died, and now the live rock is turning brown on the parts where it was white. Is this normal?....I hope so =[

Answer 1

Actually, what you're seeing is fairly normal.

What you have is a growth of diatoms. These use the silica in the tank and water to build a shell around themselves, otherwise, they're basically a one-celled brown algae. Unless your salt mix or tap water contains silica, these will eventaully go away as other macroalgae out competes it and you add more cleaners to the tank.

You can also try to keep it under control by doing frequent water changes (as long as the water source you're using doesn't contain phosphate or nitrate - use reverse osmosis water if your tap water contains these). You can also try adding a phosphate removing pad to your filter. These are different than typical algaes, in that lowering the light level seems to make them grow better. Instead, you can increase the intensity of the light (but not the time the light is on) to favor growth of macroalgae on the live rock.

See these links for more about diatoms: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/brownalgcontfaqs.htm

Answer 2

As the other person says, this is normal. My concern is that you don't kow this. You haven't done enough research on saltwater tanks! Leave the tank be, meaning don't add anything else, especially fish. Make sure you have plenty of current in there, and let it go thru the various algae blooms while you RESEARCH, RESEARCH, RESEARCH.

You should be able to add a clean up crew also while you research if your nitrogen cycle is done.

If you don't know what that is, RESEARCH!
I know I am being a bit harsh, but research is SO important to a fragile system like salt water!

If the tank is 30 gallons or less, and you plan to do a REEF tank, I recommend http://www.nano-reef.com/
Just READ, READ, READ! Most of your questions are already answered.
There is a good booklist there as well, in the beginner's thread. Get at least one and read it cover to cover.

http://www.reefcentral.com/

is also good for the larger tanks. READ, READ, READ.

If you are doing a FOWLR (Fish Only - with Live Rock) tank, I don't know as much about those, but I know enough to know you need to do your research! I don't think that, at this stage, a FOWLR is much different from a reef anyway.

When you DO add fish, learn from my mistake and QUARANTINE!!

So sit back, let your tank mature, and put your reading glasses on, and, most importantly, HAVE FUN!
Marine tanks are an awesome hobby!

Answer 3

I put Frampton Comes Alive in my fish tank and it didnt turn brown......