How to clean Dirty Sand?

wolffvet

wolffvet

Member
My sand has continually been getting dirtier and grungier looking. I was just wondering what I could do to clean it and keep it that way. I have a cucumber, 3 brittle stars, 6 or 7 emerald crabs, 30+ scarlet and blue leg hermits, a sally light foot, and 20 + astrea snails. Is there anything else I need to get to keep the sand cleaner? I am not sure if it is diatoms or detritus, it doesn't look like ditaoms to me. Any help will be greatly appreciated!
 
carrie1429

carrie1429

Active Member
No not a bad question. My LS is dirty looking too and its not diatoms. This is one of the negatives of keeping sand, usually your cleanup crew will eat it but my sand is brownish and I have a good clean up crew. What type of water are you using? I think that has something to do with the brown stuff but I'm not sure.
 
wolffvet

wolffvet

Member
i have fiji live sand that I purchased from this site and a little garf grunge sprinkled on top of that.
 
wolffvet

wolffvet

Member
Carrie my sand is brown as well and I think I have some pretty good cleanup critters. I use ro/di water from my own 5 stage system and nothing else.
 
j21kickster

j21kickster

Active Member
tap water containes silicates (so does some types of sand) it will cause brown algea growth, use RO water, or distilled check you lfs they might sell RO, i know we do.
 
wolffvet

wolffvet

Member
The tank has been running for 4 months now. I had a diatom bloom the 2nd week or so and then nothing since then. The sand is a mixture of NATURE'S OCEAN BIO-ACTIVE ARAGONITE and the fiji live sand from this site and I do use RO/DI water from a kent 5 stage system.
 
carrie1429

carrie1429

Active Member
You said that the brown is "sprinkled" on top the sand and is a light brown color, to me that sounds like diatoms but hard to tell for sure without actually seeing it. Your tank can have a mini cycle (diatom bloom) if you have done any major water changes or add any new sand at all.
 
wolffvet

wolffvet

Member
I haven't added any sand since the initial setup and I haven't done any major water changes. It just seem likes it accumulating all along the front of the tank. I thought about getting some more cleanup critters. Any ideas what I should add to my existing ones?
 
carrie1429

carrie1429

Active Member
Your clean up crew sounds pretty good how it is but I have heard that trochus snails (mexican turbos) do a good job in cleaning sand.
 
nm reef

nm reef

Active Member
Just from looking at your signature(2-802 PH's and a Mag 7 return from the sump)...I'd blindly guess circulation my be a contributing factor. Try to insure the current is enough to prevent dead spots....also it would help to know what your water paramiters are (ammonia/nitrite/nitrate/phosphates/ph/temp)...also what and how often do you feed....and information on your bio-load would possibly help.
Sounds to me l like slightly higher than normal buil-up combined with low circulation. But with the info provided that is basically a guess.:cool:
 
wolffvet

wolffvet

Member
I figured I had pretty good circulation. The 802s push 400 gph a piece and I figure that the mag 7 is pushing say 500+ gph. I have thought about going with 4 smaller powerheads instead of the 2 big ones and upgrading to a mag 9. What do you think about that? All my tests are reading 0. My temp stays between 78-80 and my ph is around 8.2.
 
saltyrich

saltyrich

Active Member
Definately circulation. Also, get some nassarius and nerite snalls. Conchs will also do a number on algae in your sand.
 
P

pa reef pig

Guest
I have a white sand sifting star in my tank. He does a good job. Doesnt go too deep in the sand. maybe get 2 of those for 100 gallon tank. IMO
 
reefin_with_jesus

reefin_with_jesus

Member
I have a sand-sifting star in my 90-gallon that helps keep my bed stirred. He does a good job, but there is a pretty heated debate about how they are said to eat the critters that make a live sand bed live. I have had my SSS for 3 months now and my DSB seems to be thriving. I sometimes see critters cruisin' through the bed, but I more often see the evidence of them, their tunnels. If you want to stay away from the debate, then I would look into getting some fighting conchs. The rule for them is 1 per 2 sq. ft. of tank. The queen conch's are supposed to do a great job too, but they get substantially bigger. In a 100-gallon you may be able to get away with one of those. Not real sure about that though. Do a search for 'conch' and you'll see quite a few threads on both the fighting and the queen. Nassarius snails are awesome little critters. I have ~20 in my 90 and I plan on getting about 80 more (they're little guys). I also have Trochus snails in my tank, but they are never on my sand. They stay on the glass and rock. Good luck with your decision. God bless. Lance.
 
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