Jump to content

Cycling Shrimp Tank - Brown Coloured Water


mst_mugen

Recommended Posts

Hey All,

 

I started cycling my shrimp tank since Sunday night and have used the following substrate/additives:

  • Benibachi Black Soil Fulvic - Normal
  • Benibachi Mineral Powder
  • Benibachi Super Bacterium Bee Max

The only other thing that has been in the tank since it has been setup is a sponge filter.

 

Initially, the water was quite cloudy but cleared up nicely overnight and remained clear up until I last checked this morning. However, I came home from work tonight and the water has now turned a brown tea colour. It doesn't seem cloudy though, the water is just tinted as if driftwood had been placed into the tank and the tannins had leached out.

 

Is this all part of the process when cycling a tank with fresh Benibachi Soil?

 

I am tempted to do a 50% WC, but I figure I'll just wait it out and hopefully it will go away in a couple of days?

 

If anyone can please provide any suggestions as to what may have caused this, that would be much appreciated!  :bow: 

 

 

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Had the sponge filter been in a tank with new driftwood recently? How much bee max did you put in?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Sponge filter is brand new.

 

I lightly coated the bottom of the tank with Bee Max, followed by minerals then finally I placed the substrate.

 

Too much Bee Max can cause brown coloured water?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Oh yeah, the water smells like something is fermenting as well? Kinda like a fruity/wine sort of smell to it!  :unhappy:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The Bee Max has that fermented smell to it so it might have something to do with that. I'm not sure what the tea colour would be from, is the filter brand new? I've had a used sponge filter turn my water red before, maybe this is what's happening. Also, what other stuff have you got in the tank? :thumbsu:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The Bee Max has that fermented smell to it so it might have something to do with that. I'm not sure what the tea colour would be from, is the filter brand new? I've had a used sponge filter turn my water red before, maybe this is what's happening. Also, what other stuff have you got in the tank? :thumbsu:

 

Hmmm... perhaps it could be the Bee Max? The sponge filter is brand new/never used/first time using haha I am more concerned about the colour of the water though, not so much the smell. But I guess if I am able to smell the Bee Max, would that mean I put too much on the bottom of the tank and perhaps that could be causing that could be why my water has gone brown?

 

At the moment, nothing else is in the tank besides the sponge filter and the substrate/additives.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hey mate,

What size tank ?

What depth substrate?

There are many ways to cycle a tank :-)

Quick ways include using mature filter media and the addition of live Bacteria , with weekly water changes.

Or the longer 4-5 week wait that follows the nitrification cycle of ammonia, nitrite then nitrate.

By doing water changes this can slow your cycle and might not benifit your quest to populate your filter with Bacteria.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I had a bit of bee max stirred up when I added the water to one of my tanks a little too enthusiastically! Stirred up the substrate. It left a film layer on the top of the water but can't say the water went brown though.

Maybe a water change is in order. Have you any other filtration going too? Canister, etc.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hey mate,

What size tank ?

What depth substrate?

There are many ways to cycle a tank :-)

Quick ways include using mature filter media and the addition of live Bacteria , with weekly water changes.

Or the longer 4-5 week wait that follows the nitrification cycle of ammonia, nitrite then nitrate.

By doing water changes this can slow your cycle and might not benifit your quest to populate your filter with Bacteria.

 

The tank is 17L and the substrate depth is about 2cm.

 

I had a bit of bee max stirred up when I added the water to one of my tanks a little too enthusiastically! Stirred up the substrate. It left a film layer on the top of the water but can't say the water went brown though.

Maybe a water change is in order. Have you any other filtration going too? Canister, etc.

 

I currently am and only plan on using a single sponge filter driven by an air pump, thats it. I'm assuming that should be enough interms of filtration and oxygen supply?

 

Perhaps I should wait it out until my tank is cycled before I do any water changes to correct the water if it hasn't already cleared up by then? As the person above has mentioned, a WC will only slow the cycling process down...

 

Nevertheless, I would still like to understand why my water has gone brown!? haha

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Tannins in the mineral and bac powder have caused your water to brown, soon to follow by a bacteria bloom and die off.

Lets cycle the tank keeping tabs on ammonia for the first two weeks, as they convert to nitrite the bacteria will establish and convert that to nitrate. At the end of four weeks we can do a 50 percent water change. The following week the same, and stick some test shrimp in on week 5 or 6.

If tannins persisting you can put a bag of Purigen or activated charchol in to mop up any left overs for crystal clear water.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Maybe a picture might help us determine the extent of the water colour, and whether it is normal or not.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Ok, to my surprise, I woke up this morning to a tank with water more clearer than what it was before it went brown.

All I did last night was increase the pump rate and add two drops of ADA Green Bacter. Would the brown in the water have been caused by a bacterial bloom sparked from insufficient oxygen levels?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'd say it was a bacterial bloom from the start of the cycle & now you've increased the filter turnover it has caught up to the waste products in the tank. Awesome news dude! :thumbsu:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It's not uncommon for a cycling tank to go a bit tanned like weak tea, from the natural tannins released during cycling.

Bacterial blooms are usually white, not brown.

Algal blooms are usually green.

 

The brown would have come from the Fulvic grains in the Benibachi substrate and/or the Bee Max.

And possibly any other carbon sources, either carbon media or pieces of wood/bark in the substrate.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Good to hear the problem is going away.

Now the important stuff, what are you stocking it with, and we need pics lol.

Cheers mick

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It's not uncommon for a cycling tank to go a bit tanned like weak tea, from the natural tannins released during cycling.

Bacterial blooms are usually white, not brown.

Algal blooms are usually green.

 

The brown would have come from the Fulvic grains in the Benibachi substrate and/or the Bee Max.

And possibly any other carbon sources, either carbon media or pieces of wood/bark in the substrate.

 

Yeah, there is every chance that the brown came from debris within the substrate material. Either way, I'm definitely happy its all cleared up!

 

 

Good to hear the problem is going away.

Now the important stuff, what are you stocking it with, and we need pics lol.

Cheers mick

 

In time my friend, in time... Haha.... Nah, its just a bare tank ATM. But I do intent on adding a piece of driftwood and hopefully grow some Mini Pellia off it. Will post pics once the wood is in. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

OK, theres been a discovery guys!

 

Last night just before bed, I was tampering with the air pump valve to quieten down the bubbles. I ended up shutting the valve to about half way which reduced the noise but at the same time maintained a sufficient supply of oxygen to the tank.... Or so I thought!

 

I woke up this morning and the water inside the tank was brown again!!! I promptly loosened the air valve as much as I could and luckily when I came home tonight, the tank was back to full clarity!

 

So I now know that reducing the oxygen supply will spark a bloom of some sort, but I wonder what the brown actually is??? Nothing else has been added to the tank as yet.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Also, I have been "blessed" with some white fluffy fungus/mould. YAY for me! Its been there for the past week or so and has now covered about 80% of the substrate surface. I stopped dosing ADA Green Bacter since I first noticed it.

 

20140717_215701_zps5imdymz4.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Try wrapping your air pump up in a old shirt or something

That's Wat I do and it stops the humming noise

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Fluffy white fungus is normal for a cycling tank.

Should disappear by itself after the tank is cycled. If you can't wait, syphon it out, and wash the gravel in clean tap water and H202 (hydrogen peroxide).

 

This is a symptom of a lack of water flow.

 

Apart from the sponger filter, do you have any other filters (eg canister) that will generate water flow?

Extra flow from a canister might solve your brown water as well.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Try wrapping your air pump up in a old shirt or something

That's Wat I do and it stops the humming noise

 

Thanks for the suggestion. Although the problem isn't my air pump (the air pump I purchased is dead silent due to its double casing design) making too much noise, its actually the bubbles that are starting to get a little irritating. But only a little though! 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Fluffy white fungus is normal for a cycling tank.

Should disappear by itself after the tank is cycled. If you can't wait, syphon it out, and wash the gravel in clean tap water and H202 (hydrogen peroxide).

 

This is a symptom of a lack of water flow.

 

Apart from the sponger filter, do you have any other filters (eg canister) that will generate water flow?

Extra flow from a canister might solve your brown water as well.

 

That a relief!

 

Hmmm I don't have any other internal or external canister filters, or any other flow devices. The tank just has one air pump. Is it common for a shrimp tank just to have a single air pump with no other devices/mechanisms in place to increase flow/aeration?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

wow man you cant cut a break can you lol

 

I know! But always enjoy a challenge.... To an extent... Haha

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Totally agree with @jayc, the fungus is a normal part of the cycle, when it slowly reduces & turns to dust is a good sign that your cycle is almost finished. You are right, shrimp tanks generally don't have a lot of flow but the shrimp can handle it if there is. :thumbsu:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
  • Join Our Community!

    Register today, ask questions and share your shrimp and fish tank experiences with us!

  • Must Read SKF Articles

  • Posts

    • beanbag
      Update to say that after a few gravel vacs, front wall scrub, moss / floating plant trim, that the condition seems to have improved.  My current theory is that it is due to waste / debris management, where "stuff" like that brown mulm accumulates in the substrate and behind the HMF filters.  Maybe some tanks can somehow deal with it, but mine can't.  Also another experienced shrimper suggested that maybe those "shell bugs" don't just live on the shrimps but also in this debris.  Maybe this is the reason some tanks fail due to "old tank syndrome" where all they need is a good gravel vac? Also, I am guessing that plant trim helps too because now more of the nutrients and light go into growing algae instead of more plants? Well anyway for this tank I will try weekly water change and monthly gravel vac / plant trim.  For my next tank, I'm thinking of something like an under-gravel system where this mulm can fall down and I vac it out.
    • sdlTBfanUK
      Good to have an update and good to hear you are getting shrimplets, so hopefully your colony will continue and you may not get to the point where you have to cull some to stop over population. These type of shrimp only live 12 - 18 months so the adult deaths may be natural? If you have the time I would do weekly 25% water changes, adding the new water via a drip system and do some vacuuming clean of the substrate each week, even if only a different bit each week! See if that helps in a few months and if it does then stick with that regime? It should help reduce any build-ups that may be occuring!
    • beanbag
      Hello again, much belated update: The tank still has "cycles" of 1-2 month "good streaks" where everybody seems to be doing well, and then a bad streak where the short antenna problem shows up again, and a shrimp dies once every few days.  I am not sure what causes things to go bad, but usually over the course of a few days I will start to see more shrimp quietly standing on the HMF filter, and so I know something is wrong.  Since I am not "doing anything" besides the regular 1-2 week water changes, I just assume that something bad is building up.  Here's a list of things that I've tried that are supposed to be "can't hurt" but didn't prevent the problem either: Dose every other day with Shrimp Fit (very small dose, and the shrimp seem to like it) Sotching Oxydator Seachem Purigen to keep the nitrates lower Keeping the pH below 5.5 with peat Things that I don't do often, so could possibly "reset" the tank back to a good streak, are gravel vac and plant trim, so maybe time to try those again. One other problem I used to have was that sometimes a shrimp would suddenly stop eating with a full or partially full digestive tract that doesn't clear out, and then the shrimp will die within a few days.  I suspected it was one of the foods in my rotation - Shrimp Nature Infection, which contains a bunch of herbal plant things.  I've had this in my food rotation for a few years now and generally didn't seem to cause problems, but I removed it from the rotation anyway.  I don't have a lot of adult Golden Bees at this point so I can't really tell if it worked or not. Overall the tank is not too bad - during the good streaks occasionally a shrimp will get berried and hatch babies with a 33-50% survival rate.  So while there are fewer adults now, there are also a bunch of babies roaming around.  I guess this tank will stagger on, but I really do need to take the time to start up a new tank.  (or figure out the problem)
    • jayc
      If that is the offspring, then the parents are unlikely to be PRL. I tend to agree with you. There are very few PRLs in Australia. And any that claim to be needs to show proof. PRL genes have to start as PRL. CRS that breed true after x generations doesn't turn it into a PRL. Neither can a Taiwan bee shrimp turn into a PRL despite how ever many generations. I've never seen a PRL with that sort of red colour. I have on Red Wines and Red Shadows - Taiwan bee shrimps. So somewhere down the line one of your shrimp might have been mixed with Taiwan bees and is no longer PRL. It just tanks one shrimp to mess up the genes of a whole colony. 
    • sdlTBfanUK
      Sorry, missed this one somehow! The PRL look fantastic and the odd ones look part PRL and part Red wine/Red shadow in the colour. They are still very beautiful but ideally should be seperated to help keep the PRL clean if you can do that.  Nice clear photos!
×
×
  • Create New...