Brown stuff on rocks and sand

[timger]

Hi all,
Long time reader, new to write in here :-)

4 month ago, I started my reef aquarium, 65 gallons with a sump. I used Marco rocks, and used Dr Tim's one and only and added two clowns.

Now, 4 month later, my rocks are all brown, covered with something (I don't know how to describe, so I call it) slimy.
My sand are brown somewhere too. Again, as English is not my native language, it's a little hard to describe. But it's like all the sand on top is connected, and when it's breaked, it's flakes. Please see the attached pictures.



Anyone know what it can be, and how to get rid of it?
The few corals I have are ok. My hammer got a few now heads, and my ricordias too. But lately my zoas have been disappearing.

Here is a few more pictures


The white part on top, there have been a coral over there. After I removed it, the rock under remained white



If I have said anything that needs to be explained more, just let me know. Or if I forgot something important.

Thank you :-)

[stingeragent]

Can't see anything but it's diatoms.

[timger]

Ok, so diatoms on both the rocks and sand? Is there anything to do about that, other then just wait?
I was thinking it was diatoms on the rocks, but I was in doubt about the sand, and that hard layer on top

[timger]

And I was wondering... Can you guys see my first post, and the pictures?

[cloak]

Check this out.

http://www.reefcleaners.org/nuisance-algae-id-guide

HTH.

[thegrun]

Originally Posted by timger

And I was wondering... Can you guys see my first post, and the pictures?

No we cannot.

[timger]

Originally Posted by timger

Hi all,
Long time reader, new to write in here :-)

4 month ago, I started my reef aquarium, 65 gallons with a sump. I used Marco rocks, and used Dr Tim's one and only and added two clowns.

Now, 4 month later, my rocks are all brown, covered with something (I don't know how to describe, so I call it) slimy.
My sand are brown somewhere too. Again, as English is not my native language, it's a little hard to describe. But it's like all the sand on top is connected, and when it's breaked, it's flakes. Please see the attached pictures.



Anyone know what it can be, and how to get rid of it?
The few corals I have are ok. My hammer got a few now heads, and my ricordias too. But lately my zoas have been disappearing.

Here is a few more pictures


The white part on top, there have been a coral over there. After I removed it, the rock under remained white



If I have said anything that needs to be explained more, just let me know. Or if I forgot something important.

Thank you :-)

What if I do like this? Can you see the original post this way?
Very weird it's not showing.

[Quiet_Ivy]

The brown is probably diatoms. Are you using reverse osmosis or distilled water for topping up and water changes?

The white spot where you removed a coral is normal. The rock there wasn't getting any light. It'll get coralline algae on it and be the same colour as the rest of your rock eventually.

The sand flakes are due to either overdosing calcium, or bacteria clumping up. Probably the bacteria- my sandbed did that when I didn't have any snails or hermits to stir it up. It's really ugly but not dangerous as far as I can tell. Is your calcium or alkalinity really high?

The zoas I am not sure, but if they're not glued to your rocks I would certainly pull them out and dip them in freshwater or a strong coral dip. There are many zoa predators.

You don't seem to have any snails or crabs?

hope that helps,
Ivy

[timger]

Originally Posted by Quiet_Ivy

The brown is probably diatoms. Are you using reverse osmosis or distilled water for topping up and water changes?

The white spot where you removed a coral is normal. The rock there wasn't getting any light. It'll get coralline algae on it and be the same colour as the rest of your rock eventually.

The sand flakes are due to either overdosing calcium, or bacteria clumping up. Probably the bacteria- my sandbed did that when I didn't have any snails or hermits to stir it up. It's really ugly but not dangerous as far as I can tell. Is your calcium or alkalinity really high?

The zoas I am not sure, but if they're not glued to your rocks I would certainly pull them out and dip them in freshwater or a strong coral dip. There are many zoa predators.

You don't seem to have any snails or crabs?

hope that helps,
Ivy

Hi Ivy,
And thank you for your answer.

I'm using ro di water for top up and water change, and always had.
My calcium is around 500 ppm, and alk is around 12 dkh. So ca is a little high, but not that much?

I have only 3 snails in my tank right now, I think it's narcissus snails? They are burried in the sand, with a little tube up, and appear every time I feed the tank?

But is this just a waiting game, or is there anything I can do to help a little? Add something to my CUC, add something to the water or stuff like that?

[Quiet_Ivy]

Originally Posted by timger

Hi Ivy,
And thank you for your answer.

I'm using ro di water for top up and water change, and always had.
My calcium is around 500 ppm, and alk is around 12 dkh. So ca is a little high, but not that much?

I have only 3 snails in my tank right now, I think it's narcissus snails? They are burried in the sand, with a little tube up, and appear every time I feed the tank?

But is this just a waiting game, or is there anything I can do to help a little? Add something to my CUC, add something to the water or stuff like that?

Well, calcium and alk are high yes. If you're dosing you can stop until they drop.

Sure you can add to your CuC. For diatoms snails like ceriths or astrea are good. Your tank is big enough to add one of the small conches like a strawberry or fighting conch to stir up your sandbed more. Websites recommend crazy numbers of snails. I think you should add maybe 1 conch and 5 or so rock/glass cleaning snails. It's easier to buy more snails than to clean up the massive nutrient spike a bunch of dead snails will cause.

Diatom blooms are usually due to high silica from new sand and rock or not using ro/di water. They're very common after the tank cycles, and will usually go away on their own. The snails I've listed also eat green algae, which is what usually blooms in a tank after the diatoms are gone.

hth
ivy

[timger]

Hi again.

My alk and calcium is that high, because I use red sea foundation, and that's what they recommend. But I'm thinking about changing to Triton balling, so I will let my alk drop to 8, does that sound better?

I will get some different snails. The only problem is, that where I live the most used snails is turbo snails. So I think it will be a problem to find other then them. Maybe I can order from out of country.

I will just wait then, keep the values stable and wait for the diatoms to disappear.
Should I wait to add more livestock to the sand and rocks are back to normal? I'm thinking corals?

[Quiet_Ivy]

Originally Posted by timger

Hi again.

My alk and calcium is that high, because I use red sea foundation, and that's what they recommend. But I'm thinking about changing to Triton balling, so I will let my alk drop to 8, does that sound better?

I will get some different snails. The only problem is, that where I live the most used snails is turbo snails.
Should I wait to add more livestock to the sand and rocks are back to normal? I'm thinking corals?

I don't know much about salt mixes, sorry. I use a very cheap mix (instant ocean rc) and add alkalinity myself. 8 is great for any stony corals. Just don't go from 12 to 8 in one big water change, your corals will get very upset.

There's nothing wrong with turbo snails. They eat a huge amount of algae. I didn't list them because they get large and have a tendency to go around like a bulldozer, knocking over any tiny corals that aren't glued down. If that's what's available, go for it.

You can add snails, fish right away but don't add LPS/SPS corals until your alk is where you want it and stable.

hope that helps a bit!
Ivy in unusually warm and rainy Canada