help

[jamest0o0]

I am new to this hobby and just started to notice I am getting a lot of brown stuff on my sand and seems like some might be on a piece of the live rock, but can't really tell.... could this be algae or just leftover food?

 

[cd77]

Could be diatoms, which are very common with new tanks. You may also have them on your glass. Google it and see if it matches up, or do a search here for pics. Keep up on water changes, skim wet, make sure to rinse frozen food with RO/DI water before feeding. If I recall correctly, diatoms require all of light, phosphates, and nitrates. Provided you're taking good care of your tank and not overfeeding they should go away shortly on their own

 

[lwaxman]

look at my thread "need help" read that, i had a little brown and now it crazy, its hairy and brown all over. its a diatom outbreak. its natural i guess, but i don't know what to do about it though. i wiped it off of the glass with a sponge and that helped but it came back.

 

[allenpantino]

sand sifting star fish will clean the sand bed

 

[cd77]

Mmm.. do some research on the sand sifting starfish first. They may also decimate all of the beneficial critters in your sand bed before dying a slow death of starvation. Cerith, Nassarius, even Turbo snails will help with your sand bed, rock, and glass. Start slowly and build up to about 1 per gallon (or so that seems to be what most recommend and works for me).

Flow is also important with any sand bed. If you have a deep sand bed (4" inches) you definitely do not want any sand sifters, including starfish, gobies, etc..

My opinion is to focus on the problem, not just seek out a quick solution. I think you'll find others agree. Usually they'll go away in a few weeks. Just keep up with nutrient export. You should be using RO/DI water of-course, anything else and you may find you have diatoms forever. If they do continue to be a problem, I'd invest in a phosban reactor (the Two Little Fishies unit works great). Check out twopartsolution.com or drsfosterandsmith.com for one. They're inexpensive, and if you buy the media in bulk you can save a bit.

And to correct my orignal post, I think it's silicates, not phosphates that diatoms require. The Phosban reactor will remove phosphates and silicates if I recall correctly.

 

[jamest0o0]

why is it that you can't have sand sifters with a deep sand bed?

 

[Skeptic_07]

because when you have a DSB the bottom inch or so is where anaerobic bacteria grow. this bacteria is great because it performs a nitrate reduction reaction (it comsumes nitrate as food) when this bacteria is exposed to oxygen rich water (like when a fish burrows down deep enough into the sand) it dies immediatly and releases ammonia into the water as it rapidly decomposes. This can cause an ammonia spike in the tank.. which is bad.

 

[jamest0o0]

hmmm I may have a problem then.... my sand bed is fairly deep, is there anything I can do about that or jsut avoid the things you listed?

 

[cd77]

Avoid the sifters. Good flow is important. A detritivore kit is a good investment too IMO (check out inlandaquatics.com) and read Shimek's article on DSB's at http://www.ronshimek.com/Deep Sand Beds.htm

 

[jamest0o0]

ah thankyou very much, although I am not exactly sure what the detritivore kit is?

btw stupid question are hermit crabs and snails considered sand sifters?

 

[cd77]

Hermits and snails are fine for your sand bed They help with detritus, uneaten food, algae... though some people don't like Hermits. If you do opt to go with Hermits (I have scarlet/red legged hermits) make sure you supply them with plenty of appropriate shells or they may resort to stealing them from snails, esp. Ceriths. Check out inlandaquatics.com for a description of their detritivore kit -- basically it just includes a lot of helpful microfauna for your sand bed.

As for your original problem, just don't overfeed, keep a normal lighting cycle, skim wet, use a macroalgae if you're able to for nutrient export, only use RO/DI, rinse your frozen food with RO/DI, and a phosban reactor never hurts -- it'll go away, just be patient.

 

[Macimage]

because when you have a DSB the bottom inch or so is where anaerobic bacteria grow. this bacteria is great because it performs a nitrate reduction reaction (it comsumes nitrate as food) when this bacteria is exposed to oxygen rich water (like when a fish burrows down deep enough into the sand) it dies immediatly and releases ammonia into the water as it rapidly decomposes. This can cause an ammonia spike in the tank.. which is bad.

Actually, that is not the reason that they are considered bad choices for a dsb. The sand sifting starfish eats the beneficial creatures that are essential for a dsb to function properly. These creatures are commonly referred to as a detritivore kit. Two good online sources for these kits are www.ipsf.com and www.inlandaquatic.com

Joyce

 

[jamest0o0]

I noticed in that kit bristleworms are included... I have heard many different opinions on them in a reef aquarium... seems like most people say they are fine though?

 

[danmcmahon]

You said you are new to the hobby so I assume your tank is also new. It takes about a year for your tank to stabalize. Try to syphon off as much as you can. Also are you using RODI Water?

 

[jamest0o0]

I admit to the mistake of filling my tank with tap water(dechlorinated), but I just recently purchased an RO/DI system that is working fine and everything in the tank seems to be doing good

 

[Macimage]

Bristleworms are great in your cleanup crew. They sometimes get a bad rap as they will be caught eating something that died and the aquarist will think they killed it, but that is not the case. Fireworms are bad to have.

Joyce