change in the color of my live sand

[barebucta]

I've had my 75 gallon tank setup approx 2-3 months now, I have 1 damsel fish, 1 clownfish, 1 saddleback butterfly, 3 hermit crabs, 90 snails, 40-50 pds of live rock, 80 pds of live sand, an ehiem 2217 canister filter (phos-ban remover & chem-pure inside), seaclone protein skimmer, 2 powerheads, etc. All my levels seem to be normal. My question is, when viewing the tank from outside the glass, the layer of sand underneath seems to be turning a brownish color. Is that normal? I don't have an R/O unit, I always use water from the tap then treat it with the necessary conditioners(regular maintenance, 10 gallon change per week). Just wanted to know if anyone had any suggestions on how to get rid of the brownish color, or is that normal?
Oww, forgot to mention that I have a sunpaq 50/50 65 watt lighting running approx 10-11 hrs a day. to much?
Thanks for any advice given.

 

[bergamer]

i have a dsb and right underneath the top layer of sand going all teh way down to the bottom of the tank dirt collects. I do weekly sand sifting to keep my sand clean and I have never had a problem. I was told from a few people on this site that I should not do this, they never explained why. I only assume the reason is because some nasty stuff can be released from the sandbed and could kill everything in the tank.
But I reasoned that if I did it everyweek, then nothing bad would everr build up in the sand bed and my sand bed remains very clean looking from top tp bottom (well except where the light can't hit the sand at the way bottom of the tank- it looks darker, but not dirty)
when I sand sift, I used a pick up stick and stick it to the bottom of the tank- through the sand) and just move all about)
it probably helps that I run carbon, bc the siftiing makes the dank dusty for a bit, but my aqua clear 500, cleans out all the dust and debris in about an hour and then my tank looks beautiful
I have been doing this since I started my tank over a year ago and no corals or fish have been damaged or injured from this practice

 

[dogstar]

Its normal alges growing, you can push the sand back and clean it but dont need to, it doesnt hurt to have it. Other critters live and feed in there. Should not use tap water even treated, Buy distilled water from the grocery store if you cant get a RO filter. Over time your Phoshates will kill your tank and waterchanges with tap water just puts more in not removes them.

 

[ctgretzky9]

Normal for sand and really any substrate to look a bit funky when veiwing from the glass into the thickness of it.
Have your tap water tested. Even with conditioners, there are many contaminants that can be introduced through this method of water changes. Copper, bacterium, other heavy metals, phosphates etc. I beleive the conditioners are more for tap water that has been tested and meet certain criteria.
Also, you are in the reef section here, and just fyi you cannot keep anything with that little of light in a 75 gallon.

 

[barebucta]

thanks for the advice guys.

 

[mudplayerx]

You need a whole lot more hermit crabs.