white sand turning brown ?

[peasly1]

my fowlr 30 gal. tank has been set up 1.5 yrs now w/cc..2 weeks ago I changed to caribi sugar size sand.(I saved some cc and put in a stocking to help seed the sand)everything has been fine..2 days ago I added a little more lr 5 lbs..near the lr is where the sand has turned a light brown..any idea's, good ? bad ? thanx

 

[puff(er) daddy]

I'm having that same problem it's called detritus(sp) it's normal with newly added sand. I have it all over my l/r and sand. A good clean up crew with mexican turbo's, sand siffting stars etc. would help you. Me on the other hand my fish would love for me to put a clean up crew or should I say "hor'dovers" so he can eat them.
But it's normal so don't worry much.

 

[fshhub]

combo solution, but it is a normal stage, nothing to panic over,
adjusting you circulation or powerheads my help, too much food(may be part of problem), cut bac k on lighting, and or get some cleaners, i like trochus snails, they do an awesome job, and are less likely to drown from drowning than turbos

 

[mlm]

It is probably Diatoms that is covering your sand and live rock not detritus.

 

[sduerk]

would anyone recommend taking the brown algae off of the lr physically?

 

[mlm]

You can scrub it off with a tooth brush, but some turbo snails will take it off for you.

 

[raymac]

My 150gal has been up for 2 1/2 weeks now, and I put in 35 Turbo's and 25 left-handed hermits last Friday.
These guys are AMAZING as a clean-up crew...
Going up the glass, rock, heads, return hose, etc...everywhere to get at that brown algae....
Tank looked better within virtually hours...
Ray

 

[sduerk]

my snails and hermit crabs aren't doing that great of a job. My emerald crab works incessantly but he doesn't seem interested in the thick brown algae on the lr. I peeled some of it off last night and it was unbelievably thick.