Habitat - Indoor :: Did I do something wrong?

[TheComputerGremlin]

Hi, I have a Rena Filstar XP3 for a little over a month now, 40 gallon breeder filled about 2/3rds up, Mikey is a little over 3". I did my first filter maintenance last week before I left for New Orleans. I thoroughly rinsed the black filter pads and the chamber and I left my BioStars alone as I understand that's where the bacteria grow. Anyways, I left for a week, my husband is really good not to overfeed or anything, and I come back and there is brown stuff growing around my water heater (on mostly the tank walls, but some on the heater) and on my suction cups. I don't want to have to clean the tank again because Mikey doesn't like tank cleanings and I might have to get a lot of water out and dispose of it ...

Was I supposed to wash things differently? I assume now I need to wash the brown stuff off of the tank ... Any advise?

[BullDog]

That's what I like to call "scum". I'm not sure if it's a type of algae, or just gunk in general, but it's not harmful to your turtle.
It seems to slowly build up in the corner of Ralph's tank, and as you said - on the suction cups and at the water level on the heater and filter tubes.
I wouldn't worry about it. Next time you clean the tank, you can just take a soft cloth or brush to scrub it off. Usually it comes off with one wipe.

[kgielda]

I have that on my heater. I just wipe it off when I do my regular cleaning.

[SpotsMama]

It's probably a thin skin of algae. It's easy to wipe off - you can do it between regular tank cleanings if you want to/need to. A plastic mesh scrubber (WITHOUT soap) is good for this.

[TheComputerGremlin]

Thanks all! I'll probably just grab a dry paper towel and wipe it away. It's just the first I've had it happen and I thought I messed up my filter!

[Bumby's Mom]

I just used a toothbrush to get it off of my tank and it worked perfectly (the toothbrush was new and is dedicated to turtles).

[danshun77]

I have a 20 gallon tank,and a 3 inch res named Jim myrtle! I think you cleaned ur tank just fine. I usually clean mine every other week. Some people would dissagree with that but My turtle doesnt like tank cleaning day either. If you have a fish net just scrape all the brown stuff off and get as much as you can in the net then rinse your net out. Or you can take a clean towel and wipe everything down. If there is stuff floating around I usually give it an hour and my filter usually does the job. Then the tank should be good untill next time you clean. I clean my tank the same way you said you did. So I'm sure you did a good job. I have a filter that has black sponges in it so I usually just rinse them off with scalding hot water. I hope this helped you!

[TheComputerGremlin]

So, I got all of the brown stuff that I could see off with a paper towel, it was amazing, I figured it would go out into the water, nope, all of it stuck to the towel. Good advice!! I guess I'll just keep wiping any away that I see until it's all good again!