Brown Sand

[sprts9]

Hey everyone,

I have a 20 gallon tank with about 25 lbs of live rock, three fish, a squamosa clam, and a few inverts (snails, urchin, and crabs). I have been keeping track of all of my levels for several months now and they are all stable (nitrates and phosphates close to 0, calcium around 450, etc), and I add a capful of each bottle of the reef pack fundamentals twice a week as suggested on the box. However, if I don't do a 10 gallon water change every couple of days, my sand will turn a brownish color. I have a carbon/phosphate filter and two air pumps that keep the water moving pretty well. Any thoughts on how to keep the sand looking white all of the time (or at least without daily water changes)??

Thanks!

[Mikez1207]

Do you have a clean up crew...maybe a sandshifter starfish

[sprts9]

i have 6 turbo snails, 1 emerald crab, 3 hermit crabs, and a pincushion urchin. do you think the sand just needs to be turned over more?

[Mikez1207]

More hermits maybe...and yea sand needs to me turn more...i have a sandshifter n he does a good job

[sprts9]

should i be worried about having the sandshifter in with my urchin? also, i dont have a deep sand bed; it's only about an inch deep. is this too shallow for this starfish?

[Mikez1207]

Na statfish pretty fast...n as far as sandbed mine is about same

[bertoni]

The problem with adding a sand sifting starfish is that it will starve to death over time, and it'll eat all the animals in the sand while it's doing so. The same is true of most cleanup crew members.

The brown on the sand is due to a buildup of nutrients in the water column, most likely. That's why the water change helps. I'd consider reducing the feeding or increasing the export capacity of the filtration system. A GFO reactor might be an easy approach to try.

[Donkeykong]

If you are doing regular water changes, on a tank that small i would recommend stopping supplementing "reef pack fundamentals". Most of what is in that type of stuff is already being replenished when you do the water changes. General rule of thumb is If you cant test it, then dont add it. This might actually contributing to your algae problem. Another thing is what lighting do you have and how long is it on during the day?

[sprts9]

1) I am putting supplements in for Calcium and Carbonate alkalinity for my corals that i am preparing to get. I have been testing these every other day and they are consistently in the range that i want them (480 ppm Ca and 10-11 dKH).

2) I have AquaticLife T5 HO4 lamp. I leave the white lights on from 12-7 and the blue lights on from 10am-10pm. Now that I am typing that, it seems like a long time to have my blue lights on. What is a good rule of thumb for timing my lights?

3) Would the GFO reactor be an addition to my filter? i dont know much about them.

Thanks again for all the help.

[ReLPSef]

Doesn't sound normal, are you using a RO/DI?

[sprts9]

I use RO/DI water from the local fish store for water changes. is that what you are talking about?

[bertoni]

GFO is a filter media. it looks like reddish pellets or granules, and it can be run in a canister filter. A special GFO reactor might be a bit more efficient, but otherwise isn't necessary.

Does the tank have a skimmer?

[sprts9]

I don't have a skimmer because i was told it was excessive for a 20 gallon. What are your thoughts? I got 4 astrea snails yesterday and they seem to be helping some already. How long per day do you think i should be leaving my lights on?

(and i just realized i am probably in the wrong forum to be asking these questions.. i'm still new to this!)

[dublo8]

Sounds like it could be diatoms possibly. I would put a check on your feeding habits as well. You didn't say how much you feed but it could be your issue. Nassarius snails will turn your sand pretty good. 5 or 6 might help a little but I would try to focus on the problem at hand. Have you checked for phosphates?

[bertoni]

I would add a skimmer or start doing more regular water changes. Even a BakPak might be enough for that size tank.

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Originally Posted by sprts9

I use RO/DI water from the local fish store for water changes. is that what you are talking about?

You sure it is RO/DI and not RO only? Silicate can get through an RO reasonably well as silicic acid.

[tmz]

It's likely diatoms. The trace element supplement isn't needed,imo, and may be contributing to the problem.. Granulated ferric oxide should help as it will take up some silicate and inorganic phosphate.

[sprts9]

I am using a small pinch of saltwater flakes once a day for feedings. My phosphates are <.25 ppm (I have the API Reef test kit and it doesn't have a standard between 0 and .25), and I added a seachem phosguard pack to my filter media about two weeks ago. Would the BakPak take the place of my power filter or be in addition to it?

@Randy, i'm not positive its RO/DI, but they told me it shouldn't have any ions in it which leads me to assume its also DI

@TMZ, are you saying I should back off my calcium/carbonate supplements even with my coral in there? My Ca2+ levels were a little low before i started using it.

[tmz]

@TMZ, are you saying I should back off my calcium/carbonate supplements even with my coral in there? My Ca2+ levels were a little low before i started using it.

No , just skip the trace element supplement ,ie, the reef plus part of the Seachem "fundamentals pack"

[sprts9]

Ok thanks. I'll stop using the reef plus, add some nassarius snails, and think about getting a BakPak. I'll keep everyone updated. Thanks for the advice!

[bertoni]

You're welcome! Good luck!

[sprts9]

Ok so for several reasons i decided to take a slightly different path with this. I'm getting a new 20 gallon tank with new sand and cycling it, then slowly transferring my rock and livestock over. I'm going to get a filter and a protein skimmer for the new tank. So here's the advice i would really appreciate:

1) is this a completely crazy idea? it seems to me that this would serve to rebalance the water and biological filter. Also, my current tank has scratches on it that i am ready to get rid of anyway.

2) what is the best type of filter i can get for a 20 gallon?

3) what is the best type of skimmer i can get for a 20 gallon?

4) what is a good clean-up crew for a 20 gallon? (i will most likely move my current clean up crew over, but I want to see what i need to add to make it complete)

5) are there any other recommended additions i should get right now? I'm trying to do this right from the beginning this time

Thanks as always in advance for yall's help. The advice has been amazing so far!


edit: after looking at a few other forums, I'm thinking about also adding a 10 gallon sump with the skimmer in there in lieu of a filter. thoughts?

[bertoni]

Well, if you want to get rid of the scratches, that's a reasonable approach.

For cleanup crew, I'd add a snail or two as the need becomes obvious. Most cleanup crew kits are wildly over-sized, and just lead to a lot of starvation and wasted money.