Whats this growing on my live sand??

hkoch45

hkoch45

Member
This just started to grow on my live sand in the last week. Is this normal? I have a 135 gallon tank thats had this sand in it for almost 3 months now. I just haded two weeks ago 4-10000k 40w fluorescent and two actinic 40w bulbs. Lights are on from 8am-8pm. Just wondering if this is because of lighting or what? What can I do to get rid on this if it is not normal. Water is clear as can be. Have wet/dry w/ bioballs and thats all. Planning in the next week to had skimmer and changing lighting to 2-6' vho setup. This is currently fish only but adding live rock in the next month alittle at a time. Thanks
 
nm reef

nm reef

Active Member
Looks like a minor diatom out break that may have been the result of the lighting upgrade. Very common and not a major issue. Most diatoms will fade away on their own...and there are many creatures that will feed on it. I'd suggest a search using the feature above for "diatoms"...tons of useful info has been posted on the subject.
 
jayrascoe

jayrascoe

Member
My diatom outbreak was cleared up - i put a bit of phosgard in a filter bag (just in case) and bought a turkey baster. The diatoms were very light, so i could blow them up into the water without creating too much of a sandstorm.
since then, i've acquired a cleanup crew:
1 big turbo snail
3 tiny hermits
1 linkia star (picked up today)
1 emerald crab (picked up today and ate one of my hermits!)
the turkey baster ( i think) was the most effective.
 
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