Hey all,

just a question about my sandbed, should i be syphoning the cr*p off the bottom? i dont think i should be :-? but not sure.

I have about an inch of sandbed, and havent been syphoning the bottom when i do a water change, but i have this really dark green, almost black stuff growing on the bottom.

Il post a pic, not sure if this is normal or what, also most of my coral rock has gone green/black too, is this just how the base rock looks once its matured? :-?

http://img126.imageshack.us/img126/8704/sandbed5pq.jpg

Pic too wide.

img tags removed

Bill

Mod

No, this isnt normal. Yes, siphon the crap out.

You may not have enough current flow or light.

How many litres and what type of skimmer?

Are you adding any additives, if so what type.

What lights are you running and do you have a sump?

Tank, Ar620 t about 120 ltrs, no sump.

Skimmer, aqua medic biostar flotor, running a surface skimmer.

Flow, sieo m820 3200 ltrs hr, have another but needs to run on low, but im not using.

lighting, aqua medic ocean 150, 150 watt 14000k m/halide

dosing, nothing at the mo i have got ca,kh,mg, but dont have any test kits yet.

S.G 1.024

PH 8.3

Ammo 0

Nirite 0

Nitrate 0

So a gravel clean could be the go, all my base rock has the same kind of colour.

Hope this pic isnt to big, appologies mods

is the skimmer getting much crap out?

Seems to be,i get quite a dark skimmate every three to four days, i mite try it without the surface skimmer attatched.

Im using pure dew as topup cause i dont have a RODI, maybe its a bit suspect :-?

Looks like it is sitting on top of the sand? Looks more like cyno to me. Siphon it out. Why aren't you using the other pump? As long as the water stays in the tank you can't have to much water movement, this will help remove the cyno plus keep the crap in the water so your skimmer can pull it out. If you not sure about the water movement go and hop in the sea and see how much there is!

Hmmm, might be cyno, there seems to be alot of water movement, i dont use the other pump because that sieo rattles :lol: and has to be turned rite down to stop the rattle, and for the space it takes up in my tank its not worth it.

It seem funny that its mainly growing on the side with the most water movement

Ha sit got small air bubbles attached to it, (The black stuff)?

has it.....(spelling)!

Yes it has, not all of it but most of it.

Actually only a little bit has, on the side with less flow.

Vodka is the best method.

1 ml per 100 litres for about 8-12 weeks. This will remove nutrients for it to grow.

Slow down on feeding a bit too. Not too much, just a bit.

DON'T OVERDOSE MORE THAN THIS.

Triple disteilled Smirinov works best for my tank.

time and patience is the best method. Siphon it out, keep up with water changes and skimming, these cyno and algae cycles are normal in a new tank for several months.

Cool i will syphon it out tommorow, i was dosing vodka a while back and it worked well.

So once every thing is back to norm, when i do a water change do i syphon the gravel?

Up to you.

In a tank that size I would say yes.

Larger tanks with more sump volume can get away a bit longer if not at all.

But yours, i would do every 4 - 6 weeks with a water change.

Well, thanks all for you help

hopefully all will be good

it is cyano, read the link in the sticky

Thanks Chim,

ive only cleaned my gravel once since the day i set up, for some reason i thought i didnt need to do it :roll:

How is Pure Dew filtered? If it is just carbon treated, this will not remove the phosphate content, which will be the primary cause of your problems. Perhaps you could contact them & find out, it may be no better for your tank than tap water.

The other options you have are vacuuming the sand at each water change, which IMO you should always do, using vodka or similar or one of the bacterial systems such as zeovit or prodibio, or you could use a phosphate removing resin.

However none of those will have a major impact if you are using top off water that contains phosphate.

How is Pure Dew filtered?

It says on the label, steam distillation, revers osmossis, and ozonation.

guaranteed to contain <1mg dissolved solids per litre.

How true it is im not sure.

The other options you have are vacuuming the sand at each water change, which IMO you should always do.

I have done this once when i first setup, for some reason i thought i didnt need to :oops:

It almost looks like a buildup of moss kinda stuff, because it hasnt been disturbed for about 4 or more months, and it doesnt seem to grow like cyano

I might look into getting some kind of sand sifting fish, just to keep things turning over.

Just out of interest, I have been experimenting with Pure Dew on my tank for topoff as opposed to tap water. - I worked out given I'm thinking of going overseas next year that it was cheaper to buy water than a RODI unit

Anyway... It tests zero for phosphates (salifert) and I've noticed a huge decrease in diatom algae and other things since using it - have used it for about 1.5 months now and intend to continue.

Sweet, thats good to know