Brown slim in my fresh water tub ATO

donkey77 · #1 04-10-2013, 10:47 PM

ok iam getting red algae on my sand bed, i keep my water p in check, I have an idea where its coming from, i use ro water, new membrane, and filter. My auto top is the problem i think, i went to canadian tire and got a submersible 1/6 hp pump, i then have this in my basement, and in a 20g black plastic trash bin and my DT is on my main floor, there was this brown slim on the bottom could this be it, feeding my DT, I don't know any help

Ginu · #2 04-10-2013, 10:58 PM

How old is your tank? what kind of rock are you using and how much CUC do you have?

If the tank is fairly new, then its normal to get different kinds of algae during the first few months.

donkey77 · #3 04-10-2013, 11:07 PM

its been running almost 6 months, as for the rock its just your normal looking rock, i still think its that pump i got from canadian tire, why would there be brown slim in my fresh water tub,

donkey77 · #4 04-10-2013, 11:15 PM

the algae was getting better then it came back strong around the time i did my ato

Ginu · #5 04-10-2013, 11:52 PM

Red brown algae in ato container is really really weird... I'm not familiar with sump pumps from Canadian Tire but I think it's safe to assume they must use some type of Vaseline and that could possibly create the brown algae in the ato container. I personally would spend a little more and use equipment which is meant for fishtanks when it comes to stuff which is submersible, or do lots and lots of research before pulling the trigger.

Reason why I ask what kind of rock you were using is because if you started the tank with dry dock, you will get weird brown algae as time goes on and it will take a fairly long time for this rock to become live. I believe the silicates from the dry dock b cause this.

donkey77 · #6 04-11-2013, 12:05 PM

i think your right, i will take back the pump and get one that is aquarium safe and see what happens, i thought it was strange also
the rock i got was from an established tank running for years

asylumdown · #7 04-11-2013, 06:42 PM

The red algae in your tank sounds like cyano. Tanks of all stripes get cyano outbreaks all the time, and the reasons for it are very rarely single issue or can be traced to one causative source. Cyano is a bacteria, and is the most successful group of organsims on the planet, so there's more going on with it than your garden variety algae.

However, the brown slime in your water container is still a problem, and the recommendation for an aquarium safe pump is a good one.