Hillbilly nomad Posted December 31, 2021 Share Posted December 31, 2021 I've been feeding hikari carnivore for years with no problem. But in the last month or so the next morning my water has a reddish brown color. Instead of weekly water changes I'm doing them almost daily now. I've even bought extra hang on back filters for the problem aquariums. My 75 gallon has a 5 inch oscar, 4 inch kelberi peacock bass, and a 7 inch lima shovelnose. My 40 gallon has two 3 inch oscar, two 8 inch striped rafael catfish, and a 4 inch common pleco. The 75 has a 100 gallon hob along with a 40 gallon hob. The 40 has a 55 gallon hob along with a 20 gallon hob. Hikari is the only large fish food I can get in my town. Any suggestions would be more than welcome and greatly appreciated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Native Keeper Posted December 31, 2021 Share Posted December 31, 2021 It may be that your original HOBs were malfunctioning, have you tried cleaning out the HOBs? when my 75 gets dirty, usually cleaning out the filter media helps clear up the tank. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colu Posted December 31, 2021 Share Posted December 31, 2021 As your fish have grown they are producing more waste that most likely what's happening switching food won't solve the problem with your stocking increase water changes and increasing your filtration external canister filter might be better for larger messy I had an external canister filter and internal filter on my Oscar tank and did water changes 2-3 times a week Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Troy328 Posted December 31, 2021 Share Posted December 31, 2021 reddish brown is a pretty unusual color, so I understand the concern. Is food going uneaten? Are there any fish that seem to have less of an appetite? Or as Colu has suggested, is there just more waste than before? Water tests might be able to help answer your question as to whether it is coming from fish waste/excess food or something else. There's only a few other things I can think of that would turn water that color, and that would be tannins or iron. I'm pretty sure you would know if you had put something with tannins in your own water. Iron is also unlikely, but still possible. There could be rust in your pipes, or if you have a well, there could be more iron coming up from the groundwater than usual, although you would probably notice that your water throughout your home is discolored, not just the fish tanks. Regardless of the cause, doing some tests, cleaning the filters a little, and continuing to do water changes can't really hurt. Best of luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
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 accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now