Dirty Sandbed

reefkprrn · 05/12/2007, 11:05 PM

My tank has been running for 6 weeks. It is 125 gallons with 200 lbs of live rock and 160 lbs of live sand. The water parameters are Salinity 1.024, Ammonia 0, nitrites 0 and nitrates 0. The sand bed is dirty especially on the top. Their is a layer of green algae that has stuck together that you could lift it off in a sheet. The sheet would not be very big but it does pick up together but easily breaks apart. The sand bed has a bunch of bubbles if you look through the front below the surface of the sand and has discoloring as if the sand is absorbing the surface colors. The colors vary from pink to red to green and brown through the top one inch of the sand. There is constant bubble release from the sand and these bubbles float to the top and bust on their own. There is really no other algae problem in the tank other than the bubble algae that my emerald crabs are taking care of. I will try and post a picture of the sandbed but I could not get it to work earlier, the picture file was to large. Thanks for the input. The company that built the stand for me and put the plumbing together recently came out and when I asked him about the sand he said it was nothing. Should I be worried about the sandbed especially the top green algae. Thanks for the help.

Gdevine · 05/12/2007, 11:26 PM

Could be a lot of things; if you're water chems are in line then it's probably just a bloom that is generally normal in a new tank. The air bubbles you see are from the oxygen being generated by the algae usually later in the light cycle.

You got a very immature tank and if water chems are fine then get a good clean up crew and make sure your refug and/or skimmer are all in good shape.

1F2FRFBF · 05/12/2007, 11:34 PM

My tank recently went through a stage where it looked like I had a lawn growing on everything, and according to all the experienced folks here it was normal. Since you're zeroed out with all the ammonia etc. it's probably time to get yourself some Turbo and Cerith snails to munch on the algae, and everything will be sparkling clean.

demonsp · 05/13/2007, 01:23 AM

Sounds like normal algea bloom . Lowering the time the lights are on would help . Tank isnt by a window is it ? And are you useing tap water ?

reefkprrn · 05/13/2007, 11:01 AM

Only using RO/DI water, the tank is about 8 feet from the closest window but the house gets a lot of natural light anyway. Decreasing the amount of time the lights are on worked earlier in the process for diatom bloom so I will do that again. Thanks

SaltyBoG Water · 05/13/2007, 11:19 AM

Also check to see if the tank is close to a register or heating unit. Check your heaters and keep a close eye on your temp of the water. High water temps above 80 will help multiply the bacteria of all the algae . Good luck my friend!

Scoobydude825 · 05/13/2007, 04:27 PM

This may be a weird question but it does have to do with a dirty sandbed. Has anyone ever smelled their sand? I try to pull out sand that has alot of algea and stuff on it and it smells aweful like pure sulfur. Is that normal? What does "healthy" sand smell like? Maybe I'm crazy for smelling sand but it smells bad, I mean bad. One handful will clear the room in about 30 seconds.

05/12/2007, 11:05 PM	#1
reefkprrn Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2007 Posts: 71	Dirty Sandbed My tank has been running for 6 weeks. It is 125 gallons with 200 lbs of live rock and 160 lbs of live sand. The water parameters are Salinity 1.024, Ammonia 0, nitrites 0 and nitrates 0. The sand bed is dirty especially on the top. Their is a layer of green algae that has stuck together that you could lift it off in a sheet. The sheet would not be very big but it does pick up together but easily breaks apart. The sand bed has a bunch of bubbles if you look through the front below the surface of the sand and has discoloring as if the sand is absorbing the surface colors. The colors vary from pink to red to green and brown through the top one inch of the sand. There is constant bubble release from the sand and these bubbles float to the top and bust on their own. There is really no other algae problem in the tank other than the bubble algae that my emerald crabs are taking care of. I will try and post a picture of the sandbed but I could not get it to work earlier, the picture file was to large. Thanks for the input. The company that built the stand for me and put the plumbing together recently came out and when I asked him about the sand he said it was nothing. Should I be worried about the sandbed especially the top green algae. Thanks for the help.

05/13/2007, 11:19 AM	#6
SaltyBoG Water Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2007 Posts: 190	Also check to see if the tank is close to a register or heating unit. Check your heaters and keep a close eye on your temp of the water. High water temps above 80 will help multiply the bacteria of all the algae . Good luck my friend! __________________ If you can walk, you can dance. If you can talk, you can sing. - African Proverb. Current Tank Info: 29 bio cube 25 lbs LR 40 lbs LS

05/12/2007, 11:26 PM	#2
Gdevine Premium Member Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Pompano Beach, FL Posts: 1,232	Could be a lot of things; if you're water chems are in line then it's probably just a bloom that is generally normal in a new tank. The air bubbles you see are from the oxygen being generated by the algae usually later in the light cycle. You got a very immature tank and if water chems are fine then get a good clean up crew and make sure your refug and/or skimmer are all in good shape.

05/12/2007, 11:34 PM	#3
1F2FRFBF Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Jersey Shore Posts: 456	My tank recently went through a stage where it looked like I had a lawn growing on everything, and according to all the experienced folks here it was normal. Since you're zeroed out with all the ammonia etc. it's probably time to get yourself some Turbo and Cerith snails to munch on the algae, and everything will be sparkling clean.

05/13/2007, 01:23 AM	#4
demonsp Moved On Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: el paso tx Posts: 7,634	Sounds like normal algea bloom . Lowering the time the lights are on would help . Tank isnt by a window is it ? And are you useing tap water ?

05/13/2007, 11:01 AM	#5
reefkprrn Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2007 Posts: 71	Only using RO/DI water, the tank is about 8 feet from the closest window but the house gets a lot of natural light anyway. Decreasing the amount of time the lights are on worked earlier in the process for diatom bloom so I will do that again. Thanks

05/13/2007, 04:27 PM	#7
Scoobydude825 Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Tallahassee, Fl Posts: 88	This may be a weird question but it does have to do with a dirty sandbed. Has anyone ever smelled their sand? I try to pull out sand that has alot of algea and stuff on it and it smells aweful like pure sulfur. Is that normal? What does "healthy" sand smell like? Maybe I'm crazy for smelling sand but it smells bad, I mean bad. One handful will clear the room in about 30 seconds.