Maron Sand????

[txreefer]

I keep having my sand turn different shades of maron and brown. All of my levels are acceptable, and I use RO water for changes and top offs. It kind of looks like a diatom bloom but I am not sure. What could be the problem? A little bit about my tank - 75 gal, 4"dsb, 85lb lr, a couple of corals, snails, crabs, eel, yellow tang. Any ideas on how to get rid of this would be appreciated. Thanks

 

[lordofthereef]

try useing a silicate remover and possibly a phosphate remover as well. also,did you upgrade your lighting recently? if so, that is your problem. when lighting is upgraded, you need to acclimate the tank slowly to the new lighting.

 

[dragonuwrasse]

How long has this tank been setup? If it hasn't been long, generally this will happen during the cycling period. If its been up for a while then you coul dget yourself some sifting helpers, like gobies, sandsifting starfish, or crabs. Dragon gobies and orange spotted sand sifting gobies do well with this type of diatom algae.

 

[txreefer]

No, I have not upgraded the lighting recently. I have had the tank set up in my house for 4 months now, before that I bought it from a guy who had it set up over 6 years. When I moved it, I brought all the water with me. What do you mean Silicate/ Phosphate remover?

 

[mlm]

Does the stuff on the sand stick together when you stir it up or does it easily mix with the sand? A phospate/silicate remover is somthing you put in the water flow to remove excess nutrients that cause algal blooms.

 

[txreefer]

If I stir it up, it will tend to stick together. One thing that I did not mention is that I don't have a protein skimmer on the tank (but I do have a sump & refugium). Could this be causing the continual bloom? I will be putting one on in the next couple of weeks while I am out for spring break.

 

[mlm]

If it is sticking to gether then it is most likely red slim and not diatoms. You can try a product that is reef safe called chemi-clean. This will definitly clear it up and it may never return but if you have an excessive nutrient problem it may come back.

 

[txreefer]

If I try the chemi-clean and it works, but the slime alge comes back, how can I get rid of excess nutrients? I try very hard not to overfeed, and my hermits always seem to be busy. I am ordering a larger clean up crew from swf. Will this help get rid of the nutrients?

 

[mlm]

when you order the crew get the u build it crew and get trochus snails instead of turbo snails. They will eat anything. Also get some fighting conchs I have 4 in my 55 gallon and they keep the sand spotless. You should get a phosphate and nitrate test and see exactly what is in your tank. Try some water changes also. Do you have any Macro algea in your refuge?

 

[txreefer]

Yes, I have calurpa and mangroves in my refugium. I also try to do a 10% water change each week. I kind of think the stuff is cool looking, but I don't want there to be something wrong with the water parameters. Also, my wife likes the look of the clean sand. Therefore I will do what I can to clean it. And yes, when I got the clean up crew I did order some fighting conchs. I had heard that they were really good.

 

[mlm]

Its weird that with macro and the mangroves you are still have slime algea. I woulf just test the water to see and try the chemi clean once. It should clear it up.

 

[mlm]

Oh by the way make sure you use Chemi-Clean and not Chemi-pure.

 

[txreefer]

thanks for all your help.