Rusty Brown Sand Diatom???

SaltyBoG Water · 09/15/2007, 01:10 PM

My tank is about 6 to 7 months old and i recently gave away my sand sifting star because i only have a 29 gal bio cube with skimmer and all the goodies you need to have a successful tank. I have 40lbs LS and 25 lbs LR , After i gave away my star the sand is not getting any movement on the top layer so i think that's why i'm having the problem. Could this be anything else? I have always used RO water and always do water changes every friday. ( 5 gallon h20 changes ) what is the deals? I also had my first ammonia spike that made my anenome very " unhappy " ( i found a big blue knuckle crab dead ) so i immediatly did a water change. ( never hurts to be perpared!!!) but now i'm getting all this rusty brown sand. I don't think it's cyano because i have treated my tank for that in the past with some blue vet "no red slime" and it worked great. Should i dose that stuff again? help i am puzzled. My lights are also not on a timer.

Aquarist007 · 09/15/2007, 01:15 PM

can you post a pic?
and your water parameters--ammonia, nitrate, pH, alk?

using no red slime is not recommended for tanks under 6 mo---it can kill the good bacteria besides the bad.

In the meantime you make sure a power head is directed over the substrate.

09/15/2007, 01:10 PM	#1
SaltyBoG Water Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2007 Posts: 190	Rusty Brown Sand Diatom??? My tank is about 6 to 7 months old and i recently gave away my sand sifting star because i only have a 29 gal bio cube with skimmer and all the goodies you need to have a successful tank. I have 40lbs LS and 25 lbs LR , After i gave away my star the sand is not getting any movement on the top layer so i think that's why i'm having the problem. Could this be anything else? I have always used RO water and always do water changes every friday. ( 5 gallon h20 changes ) what is the deals? I also had my first ammonia spike that made my anenome very " unhappy " ( i found a big blue knuckle crab dead ) so i immediatly did a water change. ( never hurts to be perpared!!!) but now i'm getting all this rusty brown sand. I don't think it's cyano because i have treated my tank for that in the past with some blue vet "no red slime" and it worked great. Should i dose that stuff again? help i am puzzled. My lights are also not on a timer. __________________ If you can walk, you can dance. If you can talk, you can sing. - African Proverb. Current Tank Info: 29 bio cube 25 lbs LR 40 lbs LS

09/15/2007, 01:15 PM	#2
Aquarist007 Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Hamilton, Canada Posts: 28,240 Blog Entries: 1	can you post a pic? and your water parameters--ammonia, nitrate, pH, alk? using no red slime is not recommended for tanks under 6 mo---it can kill the good bacteria besides the bad. In the meantime you make sure a power head is directed over the substrate. __________________ I prefer my substrates stirred but not shaken Current Tank Info: 150gal long mixed reef, 90gal sump, 60 gal refugium with 200 lbs live rock