guess what i have

[ironchef205]

ok so I went the cheapo route and used non live sand,
I went down to lowes and bought some sand(140lbs) and i assumed (and you know what assuming does) that since the sand comes from mucle shoals (beach in alabama) that it would not be the silicate sand because it didn't list what type it was and neither does there website. so months and months later my tank par. have been perfect and now i have been having green hair algae and red slime bacteria just growing buck wild and i intend on getting some hermits but i dont know what to do about the red slime and is there anyway i dont have to move 250 lbs of live rock and remove the 140lbs of sand and have to cycle the tank over and buy more sand also does anyone know anything about this sand that is called sims that comes from mucle shoals alabama

 

[flower]

Originally Posted by ironchef205
http:///forum/post/3185148
ok so I went the cheapo route and used non live sand,
I went down to lowes and bought some sand(140lbs) and i assumed (and you know what assuming does) that since the sand comes from mucle shoals (beach in alabama) that it would not be the silicate sand because it didn't list what type it was and neither does there website. so months and months later my tank par. have been perfect and now i have been having green hair algae and red slime bacteria just growing buck wild and i intend on getting some hermits but i dont know what to do about the red slime and is there anyway i dont have to move 250 lbs of live rock and remove the 140lbs of sand and have to cycle the tank over and buy more sand also does anyone know anything about this sand that is called sims that comes from mucle shoals alabama

Poor water conditions, not the sand is the reason for hair algae and cyano.
Use a phosphate remover like Phosphate-E and the run phosban packs in the filter to keep phosphates under control. The red slime is cyanobacteria and phosphates are the main reasons for it.
Suck up as much of it as you can with a NEW turkey baster (mark it FISH ONLY) then dose with the remover. Increase your water flow and be careful not to overfeed. Always use RO water never tap, and thaw out frozen foods and rinse before putting it in the tank.
Do 25% water changes weekly until it is gone. Lawnmower blenny, Kole tang or emerald crabs will eat hair algae...also a sea hare. Nothing feeds on cyano (red slime).

 

[aquaknight]

Muscle Shoals is in extreme NW Alabama near the border with Tennessee, not anywhere near a beach %%. However, most 'sand' in the US is silica sand, not calcium based aragonite sand.
However, basically what Flower said. Silicates are not 'released' from silica sand. The probability for silicates to leech from silica sand, is identical for the silicates to leech from the glass the very tank is made out of...