PDA

View Full Version : live sand is turning brown???

saltwaterrocks
07-17-2005, 02:33 AM
ok i left to go to New Mexico for a week and when i came back my live sand around my live rock was turning brown. is this normal??? bad??? what should i do??? will it harm the fish??

thanks
07-17-2005, 01:47 PM
How old is the tank. It sounds like a diatom bloom which normally occurs shortly after the tank cycles. If so, it can be siphoned out.
saltwaterrocks
07-17-2005, 04:06 PM
it is about a month old
Doctor_Reef
07-17-2005, 05:05 PM
How old is the tank. It sounds like a diatom bloom which normally occurs shortly after the tank cycles. If so, it can be siphoned out.


That is what is sounds like to me...that is normal like mantisfreak said!!!
fishgills
07-17-2005, 06:42 PM
It's normal, i got a (non toxic cucumber) he's brown he does a great job on the sand, he eats it and out the other end it's pure white, have him going on three years.
saltwaterrocks
07-17-2005, 09:14 PM
so what do i do????
is it ok
should i siphon it/?? i dont have a siphon

WHAT DO I DO????
Gryz
07-17-2005, 09:22 PM
It will go away on its own.

Cut back on the lights, and don't overfeed.

You should get a siphon anyway...
blennyluv
07-18-2005, 09:30 AM
i read an article by terry b. said to make a storm in your tank. really stir up the sand, take a power head and blow it around,use your hand and stir it till it clouds your tank up. the filters will do the work. seems to work with my sand. i think he said to do this often, but i am not sure how often, like once a week or once a month, not sure.
good luck!
B Mead
07-18-2005, 07:16 PM
Wouldn't that not be good for the fish?
MikeS
07-18-2005, 07:25 PM
This will help free detritus from a shallower sand bed, but don't attempt this with a DSB, it will wreak havoc on the anerobic zone....

Mike
fishgills
07-18-2005, 07:28 PM
I agree with MikeS.
Doctor_Reef
07-18-2005, 07:44 PM
Double ditto's with MikeS. !!!
saltwaterrocks
07-18-2005, 11:39 PM
thanks but what is a DSB and anerobic zone/????
B Mead
07-19-2005, 12:21 AM
My sand is also doing this around the rocks, but I know it's the red alge. So if I just stir up my sand it's probally one and three quarters inch, it won't affect anything?
Doctor_Reef
07-19-2005, 01:51 AM
A DSB stands for a deep sand bed...the anerobic zone is where the bacteria is that takes out the nitrate...You don't want to disturb that area!!!
blennyluv
07-19-2005, 09:29 AM
most of us rookies just start with a shallow sb. tell me about a dsb. how do you make it, why do you make it and what is so great about it. i have about 1-2 inches of sand that just drifts around, which i love. and i just kick it up now and then and gets all clean. doesn't hurt the fish a bit. its natural for them, there are storms in the ocean, they survive. right guys?
2639
07-22-2005, 02:06 PM
A deep sand bed (DSB) is simply that...a deep bed of sand...Mine is about 3 inches deep. I used Fiji live sand and it doesn't drift. There is a great article on this either here or ReefCentral and i'll try to find that and post it for you. I read that, plus a lot of threads on the subject, and had no second guesses about using one ;)