Grey stuff on sand

Good afternoon everybody,
I have a question....I have light grey stuff on the sand and it looks like if I were to try to pick it up the whole area will come with it. Maybe, I haven't touched it and plan on a water change this weekend. The tank is 125g 2" live sand bed, 115lbs dry reef rock Bubblemag NAC6 skimmer Mag drive 9.5 return pump Hydro K. wave maker 850gph. It has been running for 2 months with 1 ocellaris clown, 1 Coral beauty fish, 1 purple firefish goby. My clean up crew is Nerite (they just sit in the top corner of the tank) dwarf Cerith and nassarius. Nitrite 0, Nitrate .04 PH 8.0, Ammonia 0. Any idea what it might be
 

mr llimpid

Member
It called detritus, by product of bacteria, not harmful just looks bad. You can suck out as much as you can on your next water change or buy more nassarius and serpent stars.
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mr LLimpid http:///t/396007/grey-stuff-on-sand#post_3527438
It called detritus, by product of bacteria, not harmful just looks bad. You can suck out as much as you can on your next water change or buy more nassarius and serpent stars.
Ok, I thought that was the yellow rust like stuff that showed up last month. I was hoping its not the real toxic bad stuff I have seen on the web when you search grey stuff on the sand. Thank you Mr. LLimpid
 

flower

Well-Known Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by justpeachy36 http:///t/396007/grey-stuff-on-sand#post_3527443
Ok, I thought that was the yellow rust like stuff that showed up last month. I was hoping its not the real toxic bad stuff I have seen on the web when you search grey stuff on the sand. Thank you Mr. LLimpid
Hi,
Power heads should suspend it so the filter can remove it. Have you checked the water flow in your tank? I use a wooden dowel, and attach a piece of plastic ribbon (I took it off of one of the kids bikes) I place the stick in different areas of the tank to see how strong or weak the water current is...if the ribbon goes flat, you need more flow...adjust the PH, or add another one.
Also when you do a water change, use a turkey baster (mark it fish only) to blast the rock and top of the sand, to suspend it and allow the filter to remove it.
 

Hi,
Power heads should suspend it so the filter can remove it. Have you checked the water flow in your tank? I use a wooden dowel, and attach a piece of plastic ribbon (I took it off of one of the kids bikes) I place the stick in different areas of the tank to see how strong or weak the water current is...if the ribbon goes flat, you need more flow...adjust the PH, or add another one.
Also when you do a water change, use a turkey baster (mark it fish only) to blast the rock and top of the sand, to suspend it and allow the filter to remove it.
 
Good afternoon,
Thanks for the information. I did a small water change Sat. tried with the turkey baster to suck the stuff off the sand found the shrimp net to work better with the clumps. I moved the power head down a little in the tank and need to get one for the other side still. I didn't get all the gray stuff out on Sat. and noticed today its getting darker and my rocks are turning yellow.
. I have about 30 dwarf cerith snails and put one Florida cerith in this weekend (stole him from one of my other tanks) there is also about 15 to 20 nassarius in the tank and I need to fire the Nerite snails from there cleaning job they just site in the corners of the tank. I try not to over feed my three fish. I have been target feeding over the last week my new sun corals tubastrea with a ml syringe but also try to only feed what they take in and the nassarius are usually out and around when I do this.


 

flower

Well-Known Member
You shouldn't have anything settling on the sand. You might try adding another PH to the center of the tank, pointed from the back to the front...the wave motion will hit the front glass, and bounce back onto the rock and sand... suspending the detritus to be removed by the filtration system..
 

mr llimpid

Member
From the look of how it is your sand it looks more like cyno bacteria(bad stuff). Is growing on your rocks? If so if you wave your hand in front of it does blow off your rocks, then its cyno. Check your nitrates and phosphate levels. Research cyno, many ways to control it.
 

Here is the side view today of the tank. Bummer I was hoping you wouldn't say that but I suspected it @ lunch when I was checking on the tanks. I will check the Nitrate and Phosphate this evening after work and spend the afternoon researching some more on this stuff. The tank is a little over 2 months old with 2lbs live sand and 115lbs of dry reef rock. I do have micro algae and copepods coming in tomorrow to start the refugium on this tank.
 

Here is the side view today of the tank. Bummer I was hoping you wouldn't say that but I suspected it @ lunch when I was checking on the tanks. I will check the Nitrate and Phosphate this evening after work and spend the afternoon researching some more on this stuff. The tank is a little over 2 months old with 2lbs live sand and 115lbs of dry reef rock. I do have micro algae and copepods coming in tomorrow to start the refugium on this tank.
 

flower

Well-Known Member
From your picture...I do see a few spots of what looks like cyano. The rock doesn't look bad to me. I think your tank is just going through the normal changes that new tanks go through during the first year. Hermit crabs eat snails, and kill them fir their shells, but they love to eat brown algae from the rocks, and do a much better job then any snail when it comes to that. A refugium is a good addition to the system, and it will help with the detritus, since the copepods live that stuff.
 
Good afternoon Flower,
Thanks for the advice. The spots did turn a real bright purple and now they are a bright green. :( I did get in some red leg crabs this weekend and did another water change I have lots of snails so if they want to kill them for the shell I wont mind. I should have the micro algae and pods in tomorrow for the refugium.
 
Good afternoon Flower,
Thanks for the advice. The spots did turn a real bright purple and now they are a bright green. :( I did get in some red leg crabs this weekend and did another water change I have lots of snails so if they want to kill them for the shell I wont mind. I should have the micro algae and pods in tomorrow for the refugium.
 
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