5.5 g nano setup questions!

[Jmdumbeck]

So I myself have a successful 10g nano with a pair of Ocellaris Clowns, live rock, and corals (Galaxia, Ricordia, Xenia, Zoas, Calaustria, etc.) Recently a friend of mine wanted my help setting up a little 5.5 gallon saltwater nano. He wanted decent equipment , but wanted to choose the substrate and decorations for it. We went to Elmers Aquarium store in Monroeville PA. I encouraged him to buy Aragonite or some kind of saltwater substrate, but he insisted on buying a black silicate-based sand. The package said it was safe for freshwater AND saltwater, but I was still skeptical. I checked with the lady at the counter and she said that they are very careful to sell only substrates that won't cause issues. I'm very concerned that the silicates will be a huge problem in the future.

Also, right now I'm using an Aragonite special blend, with individual 2mm wide pieces of substrate. I've been having some slight issues with Cyano. I have a phosguard bag in my filter and all my params are good. Not sure if this is caused by debris and waste getting trapped in the substrate? I used to have straight aragonite sand in my 26g and never had these problems. Help? I might try to switch substrates..

 

[revhtree Verified Admin]

Hi there!

As far as your friend goes I would be very leery of adding any silicate based sand. Matter of fact I wouldn't.

As far as your concerns go, something is fueling the algae. You say all of your parameters are good but does this include phosphates? What type of filtration do you have as well as what size of a fish load do you have?