General Care Discussion :: brown sludge

[laurapa]

Oliver's filter got really gross this month.

First, the specs: He's a 4.5" turtle in a 50gal stock tank. My DIY filter appears to be working because his ammonia and nitrite levels both tested at 0ppm, and his nitrates were between 20 and 40. It was time for a partial water change, which is how I discovered the filter mess. I always peek in there when I do a water change, just to check on things.

The fabric in the third (final) chamber was not too dirty at all, which suggests to me that his filter is doing a pretty good job of filtering. But the fabric in the first chamber was nastier than it's ever been. There is a prefilter in the pump, and it was saturated with brown goo. The filter fabric in the first chamber was also saturated in this brown sludge-y stuff.

Over the past month or two, Oliver has been slow to finish his greens, usually leaving many of them behind uneaten. We've tried to remove all that hes' left behind, but maybe some of it would hide under his basking log and decompose. I don't know.

He seems to be pooping normally and finally has his appetite back. Now he eats everything we put in the tank, just like old times. Now that he's eating more, his activity level is back up, too. So he doesn't seem sick at all.

The stuff in the filter was like these thin, flat, chunks of stuff. Not skin or scutes.

I had to rinse out the first bucket, it was so messy. I put in new fabric like I normally do every month, and left the biofilter chamber untouched, like I always do. I've read that it's best to leave that chamber alone. The filter fabric in the first chamber had caught most of the goo before it got to the bio chamber, anyway.

Do you think it was just decomposing greens? Or could it have been something else? I don't want mystery stuff growing in the tank.

If it is something bad and you think there's anything else I should do to clean the filter without disrupting the biomedia, please let me know!

[steve]

I've always had some sort of brown sludge in water filters, I think it's mainly just waste. But it can also be an accumulation of bacteria and decaying material -- which isn't necessarily harmful, and isn't always easy to clean when they're in the filter tubes.

[grem89]

Thats good! Brown sludge in your filter means its not in your tank! As steve said as well this could be some of that bacteria that grows in your filter to eat up all that amonia. This is what people refer to as bacteria colonization or a 'bio load'. Just curious, what kind of filter did you make? I have a homemade sump on my 55 gallon tank. Do you have any pictures?

Thanks

[seanwb]

Don't worry, your filter is there to keep the sludge and debris out of the tank and keep ammonia and nitrates low. With ammonia and nitrites at zero, your filter is working fine.

Sometimes sludge can "harden" into thin layers, no idea why.

Well done for building a filter that is excellent for your turtle, and from the test results would be fine for even sensitive tropical fish.

[laurapa]

@grem89:

Actually, I have a whole thread about my filter! With lots of pictures!

http://www.redearslider.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=19728

I love this filter. It works so well. It's so easy to clean, too. I don't know how easy the sump will be to clean if it has brown sludge buildup in it (gulp), but the filter itself is great.

But about the sludge not being in the tank, that is very true. Thank goodness the filter seems to have done a good job of keeping the goo out of Oliver's water. I was encouraged by the tests.

[grem89]

Laurapa.
Your filter idea was actually the inspiration for my sump! ha weird. I too am using a 5 galoon bucket but I have mine situated under my tank in a traditional sump setup with an overflow and all. Its great to hear your filter is working. I have pot scrubbers and about 3/4 of the polyester stuffing from a pillow in my sump and its been working great as well. I feel like too many people turn down diy pump ideas for fear they wont work when in reality they are sooooo cheap and in my opinion easier to fix. I made my filter using only a utility knife. Rather than spending 100+ dollars on a canister filter you could make a comparable filter for about 40-50 dollars. (im going to be looking for a 20 gallon tank to make a larger sump out of. Try beating that capacity with an fx5

[laurapa]

@grem89:

Absolutely. I definitely did not think I was the kind of person who could build her own filter. I have no experience with stuff like this. All it took, though, was a lot of internet research and a willingness to make mistakes and I ended up with a cheap filter that works just as well as any I could have bought for twice the money.

Plus, if the sump goes bad, that's the only thing I have to replace. The other parts should keep working just fine forever!

[grem89]

exactly

[Bascomb]

laupa -- How much (gph) does your filter pump put out? I am a great believer is sticking to the riule of at least 5 times the water volume exchange rate. I find the greater the exchange the cleaner the tank is. I use at least 10 times the water volume and is does well. Just a thought!! b.

[laurapa]

Alright, well now it's not just brown sludge in the filter, which is not too bad yet since I just changed the fabric a week ago, but now the water in the tank is also getting murky.

For specs on the tank and filter, please see the thread I linked to above.

My filter is rated at least 4x the volume of water, if not just under 5. I figured somewhere between 4 and 5x would be OK.

But maybe not? Or maybe there is buildup in the powerhead causing the filtration to slow down?

Because over the past week Oliver's water has gotten murky. Not cloudy like it does with a new tank cycle. Murky like the way a pond or lake is murky. I can't tell what color is is since the tank is black, but my guess is that it's a brown tone.

Tests show that the ammonia and nitrite are at 0, and even the nitrate levels are only around 10-20, since we did a partial water change recently. But that water change did nothing for the murky appearance other than dilute it a bit.

Oliver is hungry and happy and active as ever. He has always preferred when his water gets a little dirty.

But it bothers me. Please don't tell me I have to go out and get a new sump pump. Please tell me there is an easy fix.

[Rosepruner]

The murky could just be floating debree. Sounds like you have lots of bacteria eating the nitrogen, so it could also be nitrogen fixing bacteria causing the brown stuff. could also be "red" algae. these are things that come to my mind. Maybe go through the water with a fish net and pick out the larger things that are in the water such as poop? that's what I do.