Substrate Going Brown???

[Jamie]

i am a beginner at marine systems and i have a question in regards to the
substrate.

my tank is still in the setup stage and has been running for a week now with
nothing in it to get the filter operating properly etc

over the last day or two i have noticed that the substrate is starting to
change from a white colour to a slightly brown colour. Is this a problem or
is this just the bacteria starting to grow in the tank which is growing on
the substrate.

Thanks in advance

Jamie

[John]

>i am a beginner at marine systems

I'm a beginner too, welcome to the club :o)

>over the last day or two i have noticed that the substrate is starting to
>change from a white colour to a slightly brown colour. Is this a problem or
>is this just the bacteria s

Algae most likely. I had the same brown stuff on my sand until I got my
protein skimmer working. Try measuring your phosphate levels and see if theyre
detectable.
~John

[erik]

"Brown Stuff " in a new tank or on new substrate is almost certainly
going to be Diatoms. They're slurping up the silicates in the new
substrate and will die off in a week or two when the silicates have
been exhausted.
It's happened after about 2 to 3 weeks in every new tank I've set up
and it goes away after about 1 to 2 weeks.

Erik


On Sat, 21 Aug 2004 23:53:12 +1000, "Jamie" > wrote:

>i am a beginner at marine systems and i have a question in regards to the
>substrate.
>
>my tank is still in the setup stage and has been running for a week now with
>nothing in it to get the filter operating properly etc
>
>over the last day or two i have noticed that the substrate is starting to
>change from a white colour to a slightly brown colour. Is this a problem or
>is this just the bacteria starting to grow in the tank which is growing on
>the substrate.
>
>Thanks in advance
>
>Jamie
>