sand in sand bed is grey and fish look sick

[aileena]

I went ahead and moved some of my sand bed around because it was brown all over...while turning it over I noticed that it was grey in a lot of spots...not thinking anything of it I continued. now the YT and Maroon that I have are going nuts...
I hate my sand bed....I have waited for over 3 months and still have nothing but problems...now messed up fish

 

[aarone]

well you are probably releasing toxins into the water column. The stirring might hae caused a mini cycle, that could explain why the fish are acting crazy.

 

[beth]

Describe your setup? DSB? How deep did you stir it up? What problems have you been having?
What are your current water readings?
I would suggest doing a large water change using well mixed water that has been aged at least for a few days. Hopefully you have some premixed. This will probably satisty the stressed fish.
Did you ever change the Remora?

 

[aileena]

Beth,
I did end up getting the aqua C remora w/ the prefilter box...much much better....I sold the pro for almost as much as I paid for it on ----...so I really didnt loose more than $25.
About the sand bed problem...it is roughly 4 inches all the way around....when I stirred it I just hit the top 1" and did not go any deeper. I know that your not supposed to even stir it yourself but I know that as long as I do not go to deep it wouldn't matter too much.
my current water readings as of this morning are...
0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, 10ppm nitrate, 10-11DkH, 8.5ph, 400ppm calc
the nitrates are a little high since the last time i checked but a 5-10g water change should solve that problem...
I think that maybe I do not have enough stuff to adequately stir the sand bed...I really only have 6 cerith snails...6-7scarlets...1 brittle star...1 emerald...2 cleaner shrimp...2 peppermints...3 banded trochus...2 mexican turbos...
should i get like 20 ceriths and 20 nassarius and a few more mexicans and trochus? what stirs the bed...there is nothing living in there at all...should I order LS from sfw.com and pour it on top of the bed I have...I never seeded the bed...just put LR in the tank of which I have 60lbs now...

 

[beth]

How is the clown doing?
Get the nassarius snails. The others are not going to do much for stirring the sandbed. Also, get 2 fighting conch....no more than that. If you want to live dangerously you can get a small cuk.
You really have to leave the sandbed alone. All the bacteria that you moved around on top lawyer, died off due to moving it around, thus, leave it be. I think with the nassarius and a couple of conchs you will start to see a difference. FEED the nassarus. They like meat and the more you feed them, the bigger and more prolific they get. I use a turkey baster to spot them.
What exactually are you getting on the sand, diatoms? How is your water ciruclation on the bottom of the tank?

 

[aileena]

Thanks Beth...
The tank has a lot of current...two maxi 900's pointing at each other on top and then a maxi1200 and rio800 pointing toward the front of the glass....thats quite a bit of current in a 60g tank isnt it?
The sand bed has a lot of brown detris and redish brown diatoms still after 3 months...
I will get the nassarius...but how many? like 20? 10? are the ceriths good for anything??? should i get more of those...like 10 or 20?
The clown seems to be great...the YT is a little crazy lately...its kinda digging in the sand bed and darting back and forth across the tank...its eating ok though...
i had a conch but it died...thats why i kinda didnt want to get another one...

 

[beth]

I would go with 20 nassarius [true sand detrivores] and 10 ceriths. The thing you have to watch with ceriths is that they like to climb up on the rim of your tank during "high tide" then they die up there as water in the tank evaps. You need to keep an eye on that or be sure that your water level always stays well below tank rim. Also, because they are always climbing up the tank glass, when they fall they need to be turned back over as they usually can't do it on their own....thus death if not turned back over.
Conch died? Have any crabs in the tank? Crabs will prey on snails, which is why I won't keep any. If you have crabs, find a new home for them as they don't serve much purpose in a reef tank anyway.
How is your bristlewom population? Have any predators of bristles? These, too, are great sandbed detrivores that you want to cultivate.
Do you have cyano?
The best test that I have found to test water circulation on the sandbed is to use a turkey baster and shoot some food very near the sandbed. If the food gets taken up by the current....then you're good to go. If not, then......