NASTY sand bed, PLEASE help!!!

whyamisofl

whyamisofl

Active Member
I have had my tank up and running for about 4 months now, and CANNOT get rid of this crap :mad: !!! Its starting to create a red slim in the middle of the tank, then almost bubbles and a blue leg crab decideds to go through it & it disapates. Can anyone help??
I have a volitan loin, sailfin tang, maroon clown, 20ish blue leg crabs, 4 emerald crabs, 10 cerith snails, 5-10 astrea snails (just ordered 50 more), cc star, and 2 pincushion urchins.
I have tried the phosphate sponge and that doesn't seem to help in the least bit..........

Anyone!???!?!?! :help:

(click to make bigger)



 
whyamisofl

whyamisofl

Active Member
btw, this is a 150g tank with a ASM G-1x skimmer, CPR 1600 gph overflow, and a quiet one 4000 (1100gph) return pump. I also have a Maxijet 1200 in each corner of the tank keeping everything moving
 
lion_crazz

lion_crazz

Active Member
The biggest issues are your nitrates level and whether you are using RO or tap water. We need answers to those questions before we can provide any help.
 
murph

murph

Active Member
Have any nassarius snails. Could go with as many as one per gallon to keep sand bed stirred. Also make sure your sand has not crusted over. Take something and poke at the sand bed a bit (not stirred). If the sand has hardened on top it is from not having sand sifting creatures in the bed (nassarius snails) and will allow diatom and other algeas an easier surface to grow.
Nassaruius snails will live in your sand bed and you will most likely only see them when you feed the tank. The rest of the time they will move through your sand bed in search of detritus.
 
whyamisofl

whyamisofl

Active Member
I have been using RO/DI water from day 1. Nitrates are sitting at 5 ppm, Nitrites 0, Ammonia 0-0.1 (depends when I measure), PH 8.3, Salinity 1.024, Temp 80.
The sandbed has not crusted over and is still as nice as when I put it in
 
whyamisofl

whyamisofl

Active Member
Originally Posted by Murph
Have any nassarius snails. Could go with as many as one per gallon to keep sand bed stirred. Also make sure your sand has not crusted over. Take something and poke at the sand bed a bit (not stirred). If the sand has hardened on top it is from not having sand sifting creatures in the bed (nassarius snails) and will allow diatom and other algeas an easier surface to grow.
Nassaruius snails will live in your sand bed and you will most likely only see them when you feed the tank. The rest of the time they will move through your sand bed in search of detritus.
I bought a dozen nassarius snails and within a day they had ALL been eaten by the blue legged crabs
 
topfins-mj

topfins-mj

Member
We had the same problem in our tank. We stablished it in May, so four months later we got the same thing. It's called red slime. I went to my LFS and they sold me this yellow powder that costs like 18 dolllars. It comes with its own measuring spoon. You dissolve one spoon per 15 gallons of water. I poured it on my tank and in three days my sanbed was clean. Oh man that thing works.
The product says it does not affect corals, inverts and fish.
I have one coral because the other two had died, then I have a few fish, snails and many crabs. No one is hurt.
After three days I did a water change and I am all set. My parameters were similar to yours and the store person said maybe too much phospates due to overfeeding and such. I told him I feed every other day and I run my skimmer in good health, so maybe it's just something that happens as the tanks starts to age. Also be careful when using this product as they say the PH lowers a bit and oxygen level gets affected. Reason for oxygen levels to drop a bit is due to the powder, and your skimmer will bubble extra hard for those few days so you need to pay attention to it as you may need to empty every day. I had no worries so I did it or else it will take over your tank and destroy it.
Gosh I don't have the bottle near me to give you the name... I'll post it later tonight.
 
colourmop

colourmop

Member
your hermit crab prob just take their shell for new home. if you noticed your hermits with new home, get more nassarius snails because the change they will kill them again is pertty low (or get smaller snails than those hermits) i have around8 nassarius snails in my 12 gal, my sand are white as snow :p
 
nigerbang

nigerbang

Active Member
god that is gross!!!just playing..I am having a horrible diatom bloom in my cycling tank...horrible..looks gross...just have patience..
 
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