Question about Sand

NanoReefWanabe

Active member
i have had my tank running for almost a year now and things were going well until i went to Cuba...now trying to get caught up again...
by biggest issue right now is with my sand and it is two fold..

first i have Green Hair algae on it...i bought a turbo snail and he disappeared..after one night of eating...i am thinking i may get a lawnmower blenny to eat the algae now...as i suspect that my snap and crackle friend hiding in the rocks may not be a pistol shrimp...although all my other crabs and snails seem to be fine..

Second...this one really concerns me....
i was trying to stand frags in the sand today and it was rock hard..almost like it has calcified on the top...has anyone heard of this happening before??

i was having low Cal problems for a week or so upon returning from trip and gradually using Randy's 2/3 part brought it back up to 440-460 ppm and my ALK sits around 11-12dkh (190-200ppm)

my ammonia is 0, nitrites are 0, nitrates <10, PH is 8.0-8.1, SG is 35ppm......i dont have a MG test but i add 1 ounce to my tank every time my 2 part solutions run out....and i dont have a PO4 kit either...(both are on my Christmas list though) i do have a sump with reverse lit refuge in it though packed with Cheato ( i think i should harvest a wack of it though since it has grown vigorously as of late)

any ideas of what to do about the hard sand...i am affraid it is going to start something like a plenum effect soon building up gasses etc soon if i dont tend to it...BTW my nassarius snails even have a hard time breaking through it..i have to poke it with a turkey baster for them..
 
Calcium/Alk and PH problems can cause hard sand. I wouldnt go buy fish for the algae problem, once their food source is gone will they still have enough food?
 
I got a lawnmower blenny for my hairalgae, but it doesn't eat any. it sucks on the glass and rocks for just little algae, but doesn't eat the long stuff.
 
i used my small fish net to pull out 85% of the algae off the sand...

and as for the hard sand i just pulled it all out...smashed it up in a bucket rinsed it under RO and put it back in......
 
there is still some hair algae though and i am sure not getting it all will harbour more down the road..i think i need to setup a phosban reactor...and then try to figure out where the PO4 and trates are coming from...
 
Back
Top