Maybe one of you guys will know...

[craig_08]

I have had this green cover over my sand and decorations for a while now. I assumed this was a bad algae breakout and vaccuumed it up at water changes. After a week or two it would return and I would again vaccuum it. This last time I noticed that the green stuff has made my sand clump together and harden. I would assume that this is not algae but something else. I don't have the best water quality in the world but not horrible.
Ammonia - 0
NitrItes-.3
Nitrates-no test kit
pH-8.1
s.g.-1.021
phosphates- no test kit
My tank has been up for a year. I run a wet/dry and 15W UV.
I hope someone can shed some light on the issue.
P.S. The reason the trItes are high is b/c I only am running a wet/dry. I am working on getting a second sump to run a skimmer and refugium. Just need some $$$. If anyone would like to trade a UV for a sump or skimmer then PM me.

 

[fshhub]

it is algae
and if itis all over your decorations, you will not get rid of it until you get rid of the decorations. Dead items in a live salt tank will pretty much always breed algae(just my observation)
the trites NEED to come down as well, whatever the reason, they MUST be at 0
the skimmer is a great idea
how big is the tank and what wet/dry are you using? And do you have a sump already?
what do you have for a clean up crew?
what type of sand, adn how deep is the bed?
It also sounds like you need lots of worms and pods for in the sand bed. Do you have any or any Live rock? If so how much and how big is the tank?

 

[craig_08]

It is a 75 gallon aggressive FO tank. I am running the Oceanic 75 sump wet/dry filter that came with the tank. I have Southdown with crushed coral bed that is about 3 inches deep, not a DSB by any stretch of the imagination. The sump I have is not really able to accomodate a skimmer or refugium since the wet/dry is built in the middle of it. I figured the UV would help eliminate the algae problem. I have two hermits that came with the tank when I bought it from the guy. The hardly make a dent. An extensive cleanup crew is near impossible with a clown trigger, a huma trigger and a valentini puffer. Live rock is almost out of the question outside of a refugium due to the livestock as well since they would eat all the live part of it. Any other ideas until I can afford the skimmer.

 

[lesleybird]

Hi, You need some brissle worms to clean your crushed coral bed. I also have crushed coral as I did not know that sand was better until comming to this board. I will probably use sand in my next tank, but for now the brissle worms eat the crud in the crushed coral for me. You might check your phosphates and if high, use some kind of filter medium to help to lower these. I can't see your post as I write this to know if you said your nitrates or nitrite was high or not. These also can create excess algae growth if high. Do you have enough large snails? They help keep algea under control also. I use one of those little algea magnets to help keep the glass clean. Good luck, Lesley

 

[the claw]

I was thinking that if you don't have things stirring the top portion of your sandbed, it will eventually become sort of concrete like. A chemical reaction if you will. The particles will "glue" themselves together. Seems like I've read that somewhere. Advice: since you're not using a DSB, and have naturally groomers, you will need to siphon the sandbed and stir it yourself.