Replacing all sand...

ryancw01

ryancw01

Member
So I finally have my tank exactly how I want it and things are going pretty well except I cannot seem to get rid of little patches of green hair algae. I have a phos reactor, use RO/DI since I started 5 years ago, have a refugium so I do not understand where it is coming from. I only have 2 hermits and just bought 5 turbos. I have a yellow tang, but he waits patiently for his algae clip food and doesnt really pick too much at the hair algae. LFS guy says I should siphon out all my sand and replace it with new sand. I have a sand sifting goby and have never changed it out. Is this common for people to swich out there sand every few years or so?
 
baloo6969

baloo6969

Member
New tank setup?
If so, maybe let it ride out. Pull the clumps out.
Algae needs food to grow. Once its supply is gone, algae will stop growing.
Is it diatoms? I would post some pics...let the experts identify what it is.
As long as it is not out of control I wouldent start to do anything crazy like that....I would also never change out the sand for this type of issue.
 
fishhunter

fishhunter

Member
Originally Posted by baloo6969
http:///forum/post/3234138
New tank setup?
If so, maybe let it ride out. Pull the clumps out.
Algae needs food to grow. Once its supply is gone, algae will stop growing.
Is it diatoms? I would post some pics...let the experts identify what it is.
As long as it is not out of control I wouldn't start to do anything crazy like that....I would also never change out the sand for this type of issue.
I do not really like the idea of replacing sand. There is allot of $h!t that can be let loose in your system if you disturb the sand bed. Add some sand here or there is a different story.
Sand will slowly brakes down over time. Water erodes it and takes the minerals, so adding what is lost would be better then replacing.
 
fishkid13

fishkid13

Active Member
If your tank is how you like it, besides the algae, switching all of the sand would screw the tank up for a while. Like Fishhunter said, tons to crap will be released in to the tank, potentally posioning livestock. My $.02
 
ryancw01

ryancw01

Member
That is what I thought, but he was so adament about changing out the sand I wasnt sure if that was the right thing to do. If I did do it though, I would start my water change off with the pump how I normally do and then take the hose off the pump and siphon out the sand directly into buckets. Seems like a lot of work though if no one thinks I need to do that. Anyway, here are the pictures that someone requested.
Alot of the green are green star polyps, but the bright green stuff is the algae. Also, I took back the urchin after I realized that all he ate was my coraline algae so now the tank is a little more purple than in the pictures.


 
ryancw01

ryancw01

Member
I replace them every 7-8 months. Though it is coming up on the 7 month mark so that might have a little to do with it.
The 5 turbos that I bought seem to be getting through a little bit of it so far. Now that I think about it, I guess I really have not had a clean up crew for a while now so hopefully that does the trick. As snails died off previously a few years ago I just never replaced them. I forgot about the power of the mexican turbo!!!
 
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