live sand with crushed coral?

[angelofdeath132]

i currently have a c.c bed, if i were to add live sand to it would i not have to worry about weekly water changes as much(because of all the critters in the sand)? i do weekly 10% water changes because i keep getting brown algae on my c.c.(looks bad!) but everytime i do the water change my tank is cloudy till it's time to do another change. any suggestions?

 

[angelofdeath132]

P.S. i have 10 mexican turbo snails and 5 blue legged hermits with about 10lbs. live rock

 

[aileena]

I have about 3 inches of c.c. on the bottom of my 29 gallon tank. When I started to get the unsightly brown algae I got trochus snails and hermit crabs. 1 snail per 10 gallons and I have now idea how many hermits. I have 3 snails, 4 blue hermits, 4 red hermits, 1 cleaner shrimp, emerald crab and peppermint shrimp. If you have a good skimmer you should only have to change the water every other week. I change 5g out of 30g every two weeks. I would look to a invert clean up crew. Check your KH too that shold be about 10 or 11. Good Luck

 

[aileena]

what size tank do you have??? maybe add some more live rock too. Where do you get the water for your water changes? Are you using R/O water?? Brown Algae comes from tap water often.

 

[angelofdeath132]

i have a 55 gal. i use dechlorinated tap water for my 5.5 gal. water changes weekly

 

[aileena]

I just thought of this...Did you rinse off your c.c. before you added it?? If you didn't thats why the water is cloudy. When you add water it stirs up the c.c. and the dust spreads. Try to use a gravel filter to remove the dusty stuff from the bottom and then when you add water watch and make sure when you pour it, it doesnt hit the bottom and stir up the dust in the c.c. Do it slowly over a month or two.

 

[aileena]

I just thought of this...Did you rinse off your c.c. before you added it?? If you didn't thats why the water is cloudy. When you add water it stirs up the c.c. and the dust spreads. Try to use a gravel filter to remove the dusty stuff from the bottom and then when you add water watch and make sure when you pour it, it doesnt hit the bottom and stir up the dust in the c.c. Do it slowly over a month or two.

 

[angelofdeath132]

yes i rinsed the c.c. before i added it, the tank has been up and running for 2 months now. lights are on approx. 12hrs. daily

 

[splash1914]

I would get rid of the crushed coral and use live sand if you can afford too...do not use tap water... the brown algae is caused my phosphates in the tap water... good luck...

 

[troy mcclure]

I had the same problem when I had CC. The brown stuff would make my tank look dirty.Try cutting down on how long the lights are on. I like to keep the lights on all day so I switched to GE aquarays blue bulbs.I dont have the CC anymore because of nitrate and ammonia problems.