Sand turns brown to fast

Ruebourbon99 · 04/12/2006, 10:24 PM

Can someone please point me in the right direction. It only takes about a day before the sand in my 75 Gallon tank starts turning brown. I stir it up and by the end of the next day it is all brown again. I currently have three 110W VHO's (One super white and two actinic) runnig 12 hours a day. I am wondering if I am adding too much in the way of supplements or if something else is the problem? I am also about to add some metal halides so that I can start keeping sps. Any suggestions or forums I can read? Thanks

mystikdragon7 · 04/12/2006, 10:45 PM

I'm think you that brown stuff could actually be cyno. How old is your tank?

wetWolger · 04/12/2006, 10:59 PM

how long has the tank been setup? I am experining the same issues on my 120 atm. I assume it is mostly because the livestock has only been in there for about a month and a half. It could be an excess nutrient problem.

TOYMAN357 · 04/12/2006, 11:00 PM

My sand is turning bright orange( see photo in my gallery) tank is 6 months old nothing has ever died. All is growing fine but can not stop sand bed getting colors. I have tried everything reduce light, feed less, more flow driving me nuts.

FindingNemo318 · 04/12/2006, 11:16 PM

i had a similiar problem. they are diatomes (sp?). what i was told is that you do not have enough lighting penetrating to the bottom of your tank. how many watts do you have per gallon? i had to get up to 7 watts per gallon before i noticed a difference. then i got sick of the electric bill and switched it all out to crushed coral. in the mean time, dont stir it up. it just spreads it. try to scoop it out with a net or your hands and toss it.

Sk8r · 04/12/2006, 11:21 PM

Find posts re cyanobacteria or cyano. This will give you the current thinking on how to deal with it. I just finished a bout myself.

flyhigh123 · 04/13/2006, 12:51 AM

sounds like diatoms, but it can be cyano too

Ruebourbon99 · 04/13/2006, 05:31 PM

Hello all. I don't think that it is cyano. It does look like yours TOYMAN357. Mine looks about like that, almost like a burnt orange. Some of my white base rock is turning that color too. The tank has been set up for only about a month but everything (including the sand and water) came out of my other tank. The only difference is that I now have alot more light. I don't understand how it could not be enough light? FINDINGNEMO318, could you explain a little more about the diatoms? Thanks.

whiteshark · 04/13/2006, 05:44 PM

We all have this problem once in a while. Cyanno, diatoms, whatever, it is probably an excess nutrient problem. When I had this problem I shortened the photoperiod and did some big water changes. That helped, but what has helped more than anything in keeping the sand white was the addition of a six-spot goby. He sifts the entire sand bed multiple times per day and keeps it looking new. The biggest problem with these gobies is usually food. Thier natural diet is pods. However, most can be trianed to take frozen foods. Mine eats brine, mysis, prime reef, and pretty much any other food.

Maybe you can add one of these guys to help keep the bed clean. I would still recommend doing some water changes to reduce nutrients.

Nu2SW · 04/13/2006, 06:09 PM

If its brown is diatoms, It doesnt hurt your tank too much, its mainly a thing in new tanks, but you can get a attack in an established tank, but a 6 month old tank isnt very old either, stil pretty new.

If your lights are on for 12 hours, thats a long time cut back the time...

Do you have Any cleaner crews... Snails, shrimp, crabs?

Mixing the sand IS bad thing to do, it can start mini cycles and your gonna have issues with nitrites and nitrates and ammonia. Because if you hit a bad pocket of sand... you could harm your fish.

The other reason your getting it is water quality... Lots of nutrients in the water is what brings on a algea bloom. what kind of water are you using. Tap, R/O D/I water.

Partial water changes, less light and clean up crews, scrub the rocks if you can take them out, if not then Turbo snails will have a blast and eat it all up.

anjhof · 04/13/2006, 07:59 PM

In addition to Nu2SW's thoughts, try increasing the flow and maybe a better protein skimmer. I had the same problem before adding more snails, more flow, better skimmer, and a filter sock on my overflow.

Ruebourbon99 · 04/13/2006, 09:22 PM

My Girlfriend is a manager at petco, so I get my water from there(It's free and convenient). I believe they have a culligan water filtration system. It takes out alot of the impurities and Chlorine but I don't think that it is a RO/DI unit. in about 6 weeks I am moving and will be able to set up my own RO/DI unit.
I have some more snails and crabs on the way. I was also going to get some more nassarius snails for the sand bed.
I will definitely cut back on the light cycle and perform some more water changes.
I think I will also try directing some flow from a powerhead or two on the sand.
I can't find a six pot goby for sale. Would he and my Watchman Goby get along in a 75 gallon tank anyway?

Hey NU2SW... What do you mean by a mini cycle that would hurt my fish? I have tried to keep my sand bed as open as possible by placing islands of rock and bridging over them. Should I not do that when I move?

Thanks.

Nu2SW · 04/13/2006, 11:01 PM

making islands and bridges is fine.

What i ment is that when you disturb the sand by moving it , say during a cleaning or if you have to bury something in the sand. You could hit a pocket of "CRAP" and it could send your ammonia or nirates to spike, thus kinda starting a mini cycle. try to leave the sand undisturbed as much as possible.

A clean up crew would be good on getting all the leftover food and waste from other fish.

Also, direct your powerheads not at the sand, it will send sand thru the tank and make it cloudy, thus making it not as nice to look at... Its best to shoot your power heads towards the top of the tank, so it breaks up the film on the top water. Nitrates and crud like to chill at the top, so making alot of current on the top is good.

Also make sure that there are no dead spots with no flow from your powerheads in your tank.

What kind of powerheads do you have?

TOYMAN357 · 04/14/2006, 10:46 PM

I have a large clean up crew and major skimmer. I have 750 watts of halide. the flow is 2300 gph total on powerheads alone. I really think it is a light issue it is only orange were the light hits. I have lost 2 of my nice plates short and long tent. this week. I have not lost and life forms since set up. I am really baffled I will do a 40% water change this week end and then a 25% water change for the every other day for next week . I also use r/o water with new filter media.

04/12/2006, 10:24 PM	#1
Ruebourbon99 Premium Member Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Spring, TX Posts: 19	Sand turns brown to fast Can someone please point me in the right direction. It only takes about a day before the sand in my 75 Gallon tank starts turning brown. I stir it up and by the end of the next day it is all brown again. I currently have three 110W VHO's (One super white and two actinic) runnig 12 hours a day. I am wondering if I am adding too much in the way of supplements or if something else is the problem? I am also about to add some metal halides so that I can start keeping sps. Any suggestions or forums I can read? Thanks

04/12/2006, 10:45 PM	#2
mystikdragon7 Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Mill Creek, WA Posts: 1,051	I'm think you that brown stuff could actually be cyno. How old is your tank? __________________ Patience is a vitrue Current Tank Info: 60gal reef, 2 175 watt MH, 2 95 watt VHO Actinics, 20 gal sump; 30gal FOWLR, pair of B&W baby perculas

04/12/2006, 10:59 PM	#3
wetWolger Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Colorado Posts: 1,955	how long has the tank been setup? I am experining the same issues on my 120 atm. I assume it is mostly because the livestock has only been in there for about a month and a half. It could be an excess nutrient problem. __________________ cheers, jent d-_-b Current Tank Info: 66gal = 32x24x20

04/12/2006, 11:21 PM	#6
Sk8r RC Mod Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Spokane WA Posts: 34,628 Blog Entries: 55	Find posts re cyanobacteria or cyano. This will give you the current thinking on how to deal with it. I just finished a bout myself. __________________ Sk8r Salinity 1.024-6; alkalinity 8.3-9.3 on KH scale; calcium 420; magnesium 1300, temp 78-80, nitrate .2. Ammonia 0. No filters: lps tank. Alk and cal won't rise if mg is low. Current Tank Info: 105g AquaVim wedge, yellow tang, sailfin blenny,royal gramma, ocellaris clown pair, yellow watchman, 100 microceriths, 25 tiny hermits, a 4" conch, 1" nassarius, recovering from 2 year hiatus with daily water change of 10%.

04/13/2006, 05:44 PM	#9
whiteshark Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Bethlehem, PA Posts: 3,024	We all have this problem once in a while. Cyanno, diatoms, whatever, it is probably an excess nutrient problem. When I had this problem I shortened the photoperiod and did some big water changes. That helped, but what has helped more than anything in keeping the sand white was the addition of a six-spot goby. He sifts the entire sand bed multiple times per day and keeps it looking new. The biggest problem with these gobies is usually food. Thier natural diet is pods. However, most can be trianed to take frozen foods. Mine eats brine, mysis, prime reef, and pretty much any other food. Maybe you can add one of these guys to help keep the bed clean. I would still recommend doing some water changes to reduce nutrients. __________________ Deep Blue 60 gallon cube: Setup in progress.

04/12/2006, 11:00 PM	#4
TOYMAN357 Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: IN THE FISH ROOM Posts: 117	My sand is turning bright orange( see photo in my gallery) tank is 6 months old nothing has ever died. All is growing fine but can not stop sand bed getting colors. I have tried everything reduce light, feed less, more flow driving me nuts.

04/12/2006, 11:16 PM	#5
FindingNemo318 Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2006 Posts: 5	i had a similiar problem. they are diatomes (sp?). what i was told is that you do not have enough lighting penetrating to the bottom of your tank. how many watts do you have per gallon? i had to get up to 7 watts per gallon before i noticed a difference. then i got sick of the electric bill and switched it all out to crushed coral. in the mean time, dont stir it up. it just spreads it. try to scoop it out with a net or your hands and toss it.

04/13/2006, 12:51 AM	#7
flyhigh123 funky member Join Date: Aug 2001 Location: Hacienda Heights (605 and 60 fwy) Posts: 1,893	sounds like diatoms, but it can be cyano too

04/13/2006, 05:31 PM	#8
Ruebourbon99 Premium Member Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Spring, TX Posts: 19	Hello all. I don't think that it is cyano. It does look like yours TOYMAN357. Mine looks about like that, almost like a burnt orange. Some of my white base rock is turning that color too. The tank has been set up for only about a month but everything (including the sand and water) came out of my other tank. The only difference is that I now have alot more light. I don't understand how it could not be enough light? FINDINGNEMO318, could you explain a little more about the diatoms? Thanks.

04/13/2006, 06:09 PM	#10
Nu2SW Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Arden Fair Posts: 1,772	If its brown is diatoms, It doesnt hurt your tank too much, its mainly a thing in new tanks, but you can get a attack in an established tank, but a 6 month old tank isnt very old either, stil pretty new. If your lights are on for 12 hours, thats a long time cut back the time... Do you have Any cleaner crews... Snails, shrimp, crabs? Mixing the sand IS bad thing to do, it can start mini cycles and your gonna have issues with nitrites and nitrates and ammonia. Because if you hit a bad pocket of sand... you could harm your fish. The other reason your getting it is water quality... Lots of nutrients in the water is what brings on a algea bloom. what kind of water are you using. Tap, R/O D/I water. Partial water changes, less light and clean up crews, scrub the rocks if you can take them out, if not then Turbo snails will have a blast and eat it all up.

04/13/2006, 07:59 PM	#11
anjhof Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Huntley, IL Posts: 746	In addition to Nu2SW's thoughts, try increasing the flow and maybe a better protein skimmer. I had the same problem before adding more snails, more flow, better skimmer, and a filter sock on my overflow.

04/13/2006, 09:22 PM	#12
Ruebourbon99 Premium Member Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Spring, TX Posts: 19	My Girlfriend is a manager at petco, so I get my water from there(It's free and convenient). I believe they have a culligan water filtration system. It takes out alot of the impurities and Chlorine but I don't think that it is a RO/DI unit. in about 6 weeks I am moving and will be able to set up my own RO/DI unit. I have some more snails and crabs on the way. I was also going to get some more nassarius snails for the sand bed. I will definitely cut back on the light cycle and perform some more water changes. I think I will also try directing some flow from a powerhead or two on the sand. I can't find a six pot goby for sale. Would he and my Watchman Goby get along in a 75 gallon tank anyway? Hey NU2SW... What do you mean by a mini cycle that would hurt my fish? I have tried to keep my sand bed as open as possible by placing islands of rock and bridging over them. Should I not do that when I move? Thanks.

04/13/2006, 11:01 PM	#13
Nu2SW Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Arden Fair Posts: 1,772	making islands and bridges is fine. What i ment is that when you disturb the sand by moving it , say during a cleaning or if you have to bury something in the sand. You could hit a pocket of "CRAP" and it could send your ammonia or nirates to spike, thus kinda starting a mini cycle. try to leave the sand undisturbed as much as possible. A clean up crew would be good on getting all the leftover food and waste from other fish. Also, direct your powerheads not at the sand, it will send sand thru the tank and make it cloudy, thus making it not as nice to look at... Its best to shoot your power heads towards the top of the tank, so it breaks up the film on the top water. Nitrates and crud like to chill at the top, so making alot of current on the top is good. Also make sure that there are no dead spots with no flow from your powerheads in your tank. What kind of powerheads do you have?

04/14/2006, 10:46 PM	#14
TOYMAN357 Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: IN THE FISH ROOM Posts: 117	I have a large clean up crew and major skimmer. I have 750 watts of halide. the flow is 2300 gph total on powerheads alone. I really think it is a light issue it is only orange were the light hits. I have lost 2 of my nice plates short and long tent. this week. I have not lost and life forms since set up. I am really baffled I will do a 40% water change this week end and then a 25% water change for the every other day for next week . I also use r/o water with new filter media.