growth on my sand bed

[rwm555]

My sandbed has a carpet like growth of algea covering it. How do I get rid of it and what is the problem? I would love to have a nice white sandbed!

 

[h20 freak1]

Parameters?

I would say a sandsifter goby, nassarius snails and hermits.

 

[Recty]

Probably a cyanobacteria outbreak... treat by adding more water flow, less waste in your tank... whether that means less feeding or adding something like a protein skimmer depends on what your tank set up is currently.

 

[danfrith]

What helped my cyano problem was reducing my photoperiod and reducing my 2-part dosing.

 

[rwm555]

Is there anything that I can do to manually clean up the bed. Can I pull it all to one side? Put it under a rock or will that cause another problem?

 

[Gdubb]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13073551#post13073551 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by rwm555
Is there anything that I can do to manually clean up the bed. Can I pull it all to one side? Put it under a rock or will that cause another problem?

I had it in my old 58g set up. When I syphoned the sand bed it would just reappear in a week. I think mine was due to a weak skimmer on a heavy bioload. Reason I think that is I was only feeding once daily in small amounts that could be eaten in a few minutes.

 

[Recty]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13073551#post13073551 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by rwm555
Is there anything that I can do to manually clean up the bed. Can I pull it all to one side? Put it under a rock or will that cause another problem?

How thick is the growth on your sand?

 

[rwm555]

Not super thick (1/4") but I can peal it back and it stays together in big hunks.

 

[Recty]

If it was my tank, I'd use a gravel vacuum and clean half my sand bed, then a couple days later clean the other half.

If you dont have a protein skimmer, get one. Or if you dont want to or cant do that, do more frequent water changes. Or feed less. Or even better, get a powerhead or two aimed to blow over the sand bed.

What you are seeing in cyanobacteria which can grow for a number of reasons, the main ones being lack of flow, excess nutrients (hence get a skimmer or reduce feeding comments) or poor lighting. Cyano seems to really like actinics and especially ones that have passed beyond the recommended replacement date.

 

[rwm555]

Thanks Recty, I just replaced the lights. I think my actinics bulbs were getting ready to go. I'm only getting about 3 months on my compact fluorenscent bulbs. I leave the daylight bulb on from 10 - 6 and the actinic from 8 - 8. Is that a normal life?

 

[Recty]

Yeah, most fish come from right around the equator, with more or less 12 hours of daylight, 12 hours of night. Something close to that is what is natural for them.

I've no experience with the following personally, but I've read it so I'll pass it on...

Actinic lighting is supposedly one of the favorite "foods" for cyanobacteria. If you're having cyano problems, you might try dropping your actinic lighting down to 8 hours a day or so and see if that helps, along with more frequent water changes and more flow over the sandbed.

Once that stuff gets a good foothold, it is hard to stop. I had it in my 75 gallon tank and it took me a good month or two to eradicate it, and it involved two new powerheads being placed in the tank and more aggressive water changing schedule. I also quit feeding as much and did different foods, I think that helped as much as anything else I did.