Bright green sand

[topofsteel]

Part of my sand bed has turned bright green. It actually don't look that bad but I'm guessing it's not a good thing. There isn't any noticeable 'growth' it looks like the sand has actually turned green. Does anyone know what it is and how to get rid of it?

 

[mandarin w]

I would think your phosphates are high, did you use RO/DI water in the tank, or did you use tap.? How long has to tank been set up? I would think a good water change and put your powerheads so they flow over the area effected might ward off potintial problems.

 

[topofsteel]

I use RO water and the tank has been set up for 4 months. My test kit only checks for Ammonia, pH, Nitrate and Nitrite. Can I get just a phosphate test? And are they really important? I don't have powerheads, can you recommend any. 55 gallon FOWLR, thanks.

 

[fgcu14]

I'm having a similar problem however my sand is turning a purpleish color, and it has also been set up for aprox 4 months now.

 

[n2theblue]

A couple of power heads can really help to keep algae/cyano from accumulating on the sand bed. There are a bunch of differnet brands of power heads, but I prefer the maxi-jet ones. They are very cheap (around $20 depending on the size) and put up with a ton of abuse. Just toss them in and stick them to the glass and then play around aiming them so you get lots of flow without making a sandstorm. The added flow helps keep all the detrius in the tank suspended in the water column so that it can be pulled out by your filtration rather than accumulating on your rocks and sandbed.

 

[n2theblue]

Also, you can purchase a phosphate test kit. I use the Sailfert brand.

 

[rslinger]

purple and bright green hmmmm.....maybe coralline