dirty sand

[raulruiz912]

Ive had my tank running for about 7 months and just recently my sand has started turning brown on top, any suggestions on keeping it white or somewhat close??? any info would help

 

[fishaholic911]

Get a sand star or goby as they will help turn the top layer of sand. Also you have to find the root cause. Do you use RO/DI water, do you over feed, do you have enough flow,do you have a good skimmer, do you do enough water changes ?

 

[raulruiz912]

my wife was watching the tank while i was on active duty and she used tap water. since then its been r/o water but still changed colors

 

[Akimbo]

Is it brown? or redish purplely brown? if the former, than you have diatoms. If you have a glass top get a Orange Diamond Goby. Otherwise get a glass top and the fish. Sand Sifting Starfish have a very short lifespan in the tank. If its the later, than you have cyano everyone gets it its a pain but can be dealt with. If you have either it means you have high nitrates and at least 0.25 phosphates. Get yourself a phosban reactor or some Brightwell Aquatics Phosphat-E, the Phosphat-E only works if you have a good skimmer though so dont buy without knowing your skimmer.

 

[aquaph8]

How deep is your sand?

 

[raulruiz912]

1 1/2 1 3/4 of sand.. brown reddish brown in some spots

 

[aquaph8]

Thats about how deep mine is. I vacuum my sand every water change and it stays pretty clean. Its really amazing how much junk comes out. If its really bad split it up into 2 or 3 water changes. Are the brown spots kind of slimy?