look like algae

[rodney]

My tank has been cycling about a month no fish I have a 72gal tank I have LR and coral about 30 to 40 lbs live sand I finshed aquscaping 2 days ago and Ive noticed that the sand is starting to turn brown at one end of the tank while th other side looks just fine , can anyone help me

 

[sirgunther]

"Search" button is your friend
Probably cyano or some other algea that will eventually turn green if you keep your water at an evironmentaly safe level.

 

[rodney]

thanks sir gunther I was a little worried that I might be doing something wrong

 

[sirgunther]

nah, it will probably get worse before it gets better, my tank had it all over the place, then i added a few snails. After the snails it cleared up and came back as green.

 

[rodney]

so do you think it a good idea to add snails so soon in my tank
and if so what kind of snail a turbo maybe

 

[sirgunther]

if your tank has been set up for about 3 weeks or more then you can get some snails.. anything nder 3 weeks seems to either not have enough food, or they could die during the main part of the cycle.
If the tank in Question is the 72 bow then i would say no more than like 7-10 snails of a mixed variety... they will soon run out of food to eat and die if you get anymore.. as it is i have 20 in my 55 and they seem to have exhausted the food in about a week... i have heard of people feeding them pellets, but i have never tried..
I would get a couple turbos, a couple margaritas and a couple smaller snails that tend to sift the sand...
you can not "make food" for the snails by overfeeding, so choose your numbers wisely.. you will discover that they have an enormous appetite..
HTH

 

[rodney]

I went to my LFS and I got 2 turbos and 3 crabs on the suggestion of the LFS, so it goes right along with what you said thanks