Is This Sand All Over My Rocks?

suzmax · 09/01/2012, 10:25 PM

We just purchased this tank from someone else Thursday & moved it & replaced the sand. You can imagine the sandstorm we had. There was a ton of cyano algae in the tank & we took out a lot of the rock that had the worst of it...or so I thought. Now I think a lot of it is hiding underneath what I think is sand all over the rock??? Is that what this is? If so, how do I get the sand off of all our rock w/out stressing everybody out anymore? I'm ready to do battle on the cyano & I want to get a CUC but didn't want to if there wasn't enough for them to do (HA!). Can they find it through all the sand (if that's what this is)? Almost all of our rocks look like this.

Ambition · 09/01/2012, 10:49 PM

Most likely dust and sand from switching the sand in the tank. At least, that is my guess. A closer picture of a rock may help more.

While a CUC is a good thing to have, they won't help you with cyano. Cyano isn't eaten by really anything that I know of. To fight cyano I suggest doing a three day lights out once a month for several months. It is going to take awhile, but it should work. Just curious, what are you referring to as cyano? If it is the purple stuff on your rock, that is coralline algae which is a good algae.

MARINECRITTERS · 09/01/2012, 11:30 PM

Looks like waste particles ( get some more flow in that area ), cyano means to much nutrients and too little oxygen, try running gfo in a reactor.
Do you have a RODI unit, if not get one or you will always have issues with your tank.

suzmax · 09/01/2012, 11:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MARINECRITTERS

Looks like waste particles ( get some more flow in that area ), cyano means to much nutrients and too little oxygen, try running gfo in a reactor.
Do you have a RODI unit, if not get one or you will always have issues with your tank.

Thanks. There are a million reasons as to why the previous owner had such a bad problem of cyano & we are doing everything we can to correct all of them. I was just wondering if this was sand on my rocks & how to get rid of it. It's pretty much all over the tank so I figured it was from the sandstorm we caused.

And yes, we do have an RO/DI unit on the tank now (he did not) & will also be hooking up our Dialyseas unit once everything has been stable for a bit.

suzmax · 09/01/2012, 11:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ambition

Most likely dust and sand from switching the sand in the tank. At least, that is my guess. A closer picture of a rock may help more.

While a CUC is a good thing to have, they won't help you with cyano. Cyano isn't eaten by really anything that I know of. To fight cyano I suggest doing a three day lights out once a month for several months. It is going to take awhile, but it should work. Just curious, what are you referring to as cyano? If it is the purple stuff on your rock, that is coralline algae which is a good algae.

Hmmm...I'll have to look closer at that purple you are talking about. I see that. Most of it though is dark red.

The guy we bought it from, an experienced reefer, even knew he had a cyano problem. He had just gotten too busy. He agreed we needed to get a CUC in there but he hadn't had the time to go to the LFS to get one. I know that's only a small part of the solution! We are doing lots of other things (lighting, feeding, RODI where he had none, reduced A LOT of the live rock, as it was waaaaay too full, unfortch lost 2 hippo tangs in the move but there were too many for the size of the tank, regular water changes, etc.). Mostly I just wanted to know if that is sand on my rocks & how to get rid of it since it's all over the tank.

09/01/2012, 10:25 PM	#1
suzmax Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2012 Posts: 82	Is This Sand All Over My Rocks? We just purchased this tank from someone else Thursday & moved it & replaced the sand. You can imagine the sandstorm we had. There was a ton of cyano algae in the tank & we took out a lot of the rock that had the worst of it...or so I thought. Now I think a lot of it is hiding underneath what I think is sand all over the rock??? Is that what this is? If so, how do I get the sand off of all our rock w/out stressing everybody out anymore? I'm ready to do battle on the cyano & I want to get a CUC but didn't want to if there wasn't enough for them to do (HA!). Can they find it through all the sand (if that's what this is)? Almost all of our rocks look like this.

09/01/2012, 10:49 PM	#2
Ambition Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2012 Posts: 1,138	Most likely dust and sand from switching the sand in the tank. At least, that is my guess. A closer picture of a rock may help more. While a CUC is a good thing to have, they won't help you with cyano. Cyano isn't eaten by really anything that I know of. To fight cyano I suggest doing a three day lights out once a month for several months. It is going to take awhile, but it should work. Just curious, what are you referring to as cyano? If it is the purple stuff on your rock, that is coralline algae which is a good algae. __________________ Kyle A day off? That's an illusion. Current Tank Info: 460+ Gallons in the making

09/01/2012, 11:30 PM	#3
MARINECRITTERS Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2012 Posts: 1,525	Looks like waste particles ( get some more flow in that area ), cyano means to much nutrients and too little oxygen, try running gfo in a reactor. Do you have a RODI unit, if not get one or you will always have issues with your tank.