Substrate Cleaner?

[craigj]

I have a 75 FOWLR with a small grouper and a damsel in it. Recently, my live sand(a fine sand) has started to have a dark brown buildup on top of it that kind of mats the sand together. Is there anything I could put in the aquarium to keep the sand clean and white. I've heard that huma triggers swallow sand and spit it out through their gills. Would this work? If not, is there anything I can do?

 

[justchillin]

we really need more info such as water parameters and how long the tank has been cycled, etc. but it sounds to be like diatoms which are a normal part of a new tanks development. with time it should start to go away.

 

[dlight692000]

this will happen , in my opinion every tank goes through a algae attack normally within 3 months if its setup, it will go away, try leaving the lights off more time and if you dont already use ro water reverse osmosis, wal mart carries it, also another thing that helped me is i poisitioned a powerhead on the bottom of the tank so keep the algae off the sand, it didnt have time to form because of the current, it works well.

 

[craigj]

Ok, well the tank is about two months old. The nitrites and amonia are at 0. Nitrates are between 20 and 40, and PH and salinity are good. It has been cycled for about three or four weeks.

 

[craigj]

I use RO water. Ok, I will try putting a powerhead at the bottom of the tank. Will this get rid of the existing algae? Is there a way to get rid of it?

 

[puppy]

just wondering but, is it ok to submerge a powerhead all the way under water?or do yall just have it pointing down toward the sand?

 

[fender]

The diatoms should go away in about a month on their own. I stirred my sand bed occassionally to make it look nicer.
And yes I you can put your PHs under water all the way.

 

[@knight]

puppy,
powerheads are usually submersible, ive never seen one that isnt, i would think that would defeat their purpose.
in any case sounds like everything's normal with your tank CraigJ. if you have a DSB, be careful as to not suck up or blow sand around too much so that it disturbs your sand bed.
what works for me is a credit card (not your fingers) and lightly brushing the top layer of sand over. this is also a good thing to do to get rid of the algae that grows between the glass and the sand.

 

[myckei]

I think Craig is right, I use a Rio 90 powerhead in my tank 2 inches above my cc. The current it provides dosent give the alge time to grow and it helps keep my tank from getting "dead spots" where there is not enough movement in certain places in your tank. It also helps with keeping O2 circulating.