A little help with sand

emkelly09 · 01/20/2014, 12:08 PM

I have a 13.3 gallon Mr. Aqua. It has been set up for just over 6 months now. I have no form of algae on my rocks but my sand is killing me. It seems to form a thick abundance of some sort of algae right on top of the sand. Could it be that I am not getting enough flow? I am currently running 2 Koralia 240s. Please let me know your input.

Thank you!

oscarinw · 01/20/2014, 10:19 PM

Unfortunately "thick abundance of some sort" is not very descriptive to help with specifics. There are a couple of algae-like critters that grow on the sand so it's hard to tell. If it syphons easily, I'd say continue to suck it out and let it sleep overnight on fresh RO water, give it a good rinse and return to the tank.

dppitone · 01/21/2014, 01:57 AM

What is the phosphate level in the tank water? Do you have RODI and are the filters in it still fresh?

living_waters · 01/21/2014, 03:52 AM

sounds like diatoms. you could add cuc that stir up the sand bed like cirth snails.

01/20/2014, 12:08 PM	#1
emkelly09 Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2010 Posts: 78	A little help with sand I have a 13.3 gallon Mr. Aqua. It has been set up for just over 6 months now. I have no form of algae on my rocks but my sand is killing me. It seems to form a thick abundance of some sort of algae right on top of the sand. Could it be that I am not getting enough flow? I am currently running 2 Koralia 240s. Please let me know your input. Thank you!

01/20/2014, 10:19 PM	#2
oscarinw Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: Western Massachusetts Posts: 1,091	Unfortunately "thick abundance of some sort" is not very descriptive to help with specifics. There are a couple of algae-like critters that grow on the sand so it's hard to tell. If it syphons easily, I'd say continue to suck it out and let it sleep overnight on fresh RO water, give it a good rinse and return to the tank.

01/21/2014, 01:57 AM	#3
dppitone Registered Member. Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Queen Village, Phila. Posts: 1,697	What is the phosphate level in the tank water? Do you have RODI and are the filters in it still fresh?

01/21/2014, 03:52 AM	#4
living_waters Moved On Join Date: Dec 2013 Location: coral springs fl Posts: 424	sounds like diatoms. you could add cuc that stir up the sand bed like cirth snails.