New tank...a few questions

[Mike]

Three weeks ago we setup a tank with 3 glass cats and one crayfish/lobster.
Looks a lot like a crashfish, but was told is a lobster.

Anyway, we are getting this brown stuff growning on the glass here and
there and have floating particles in the water.

We have an aquaclear filter, but it does not seem to really keep the
water super clean, but it could be that I have it installed wrong.
We did not get instructions on how to setup the filters.

What goes on the top, the little black bag of rocks or the sponge?

Also what is the brown stuff?

I have siphoned about a third of the water per week out and replaced
it with clean water. Is there a siphone/filter that I can spend a little
time and clean the water up completely, assuming I can't get the
automatic filter to work. Actually, a ton of "crap" ends up in the
rocks anyway, it would be nice if there was a water cleaner that
I could use once a week.

As you can see I am really new at this. Nothing has died so far.
Any advice would be appreciated.
-Mike

[MartinOsirus]

>What goes on the top, the little black bag of rocks or the sponge?

the charcoal bag goes on the top - but you should take it out and rinse it real
well before you put it back in. Can cause floating particles

>Also what is the brown stuff?

likely brown algae (diatoms)- clean it off with an aquarium sponge. Feed less
food and keep light on at least 12-14 hours - to try and get rid of it

When you siphon out the water - use a water conditioner like amquel before you
add new water.

[NetMax]

"Mike" > wrote in message
om...
> Three weeks ago we setup a tank with 3 glass cats and one
crayfish/lobster.
> Looks a lot like a crashfish, but was told is a lobster.

Glass cats that I'm thinking of are rather delicate. Fish and crayfish
are sometimes a perilous mixture.

> Anyway, we are getting this brown stuff growning on the glass here and
> there and have floating particles in the water.

Stuff on glass is bacteria or algae, no big deal, cosmetic. Partiles in
water could be your filter is too small, or is set up incorrectly.

> We have an aquaclear filter, but it does not seem to really keep the
> water super clean, but it could be that I have it installed wrong.
> We did not get instructions on how to setup the filters.

What size is your tank and what is the AquaClear model number?

> What goes on the top, the little black bag of rocks or the sponge?
>
> Also what is the brown stuff?

The black stuff is carbon, which if more than 2 months old is garbage.
The brown stuff might be peat, and if it's old, is also garbage. The
sponge if not clogged from the inside is probably ok. I'd get a 2nd
sponge and fresh carbon. Leave your original sponge at the bottom (tight
fit), then put your rinsed carbon on top of the sponge, and then put your
2nd sponge on top of the carbon. When sevicing the filter, always only
clean the bottom sponge and reverse the order of the sponges.

> I have siphoned about a third of the water per week out and replaced
> it with clean water. Is there a siphone/filter that I can spend a
little
> time and clean the water up completely, assuming I can't get the
> automatic filter to work. Actually, a ton of "crap" ends up in the
> rocks anyway, it would be nice if there was a water cleaner that
> I could use once a week.

Any kind of a gravel vacuum will do it, from siphoning to a pail, or
using a Python to vacuum it to a sink.

> As you can see I am really new at this. Nothing has died so far.
> Any advice would be appreciated.
> -Mike

Nothing dying is always a good sign. Here is some good info.
http://faq.thekrib.com/begin.html
http://faq.thekrib.com/begin-cycling.html

NetMax