Algae on sand bed

[dan2011]

Hey guys tank been up for about 5 months everything was goin good until the last month or so I can’t seem to get rid of this algae growing in sand bed and rocks I scrape it of rocks and pull it outta the sand when do water change and seems to growing back any input much appreciated

 

[Brandon3152134]

Just manual remove it and let it phase its self out. 5 months is very new for a tank. Wacth nutrient levels and vacuum sand bed when doing water change.

 

[Jilly92]

Definitely more hands on maintaining. Its such a pain I know, I'm dealing with this in a new pico. Emerald crab knocked a huge dent in it though for sure, and taking a net and just skimming the top of the sandbed and dumping it will help too

 

[dan2011]

Ok thanks guys

 

[Bryknicks]

Just give the tank time to get established and out of the "ugly" phase and it will correct itself. I see some snails so assuming you have a decent clean up crew you won't wait much longer. I think by month 8 on my tank I started with dry rock the algae disappeared from my sandbed.

 

[Dark_Knightt]

Just give the tank time to get established and out of the "ugly" phase and it will correct itself. I see some snails so assuming you have a decent clean up crew you won't wait much longer. I think by month 8 on my tank I started with dry rock the algae disappeared from my sandbed.

Im on month 9 in a 20g tank and still have algae

 

[Bryknicks]

Im on month 9 in a 20g tank and still have algae

Do you have a good nutrient export system? High nutrients? Good CUC? Good water flow?

 

[Dark_Knightt]

Do you have a good nutrient export system? High nutrients? Good CUC? Good water flow?

I have good enough flow, even though i think the flow makes the algae brow longer. Clean up crew i could probably add a bit more, I originally had 1 emerald crab, 4 margarita snails and 4 hermits. Im thinking of buying like 2 nassarius snails, 1 starfish and maybe a pinchusion urchin. I want the urchin, ive been told they eat lots of algae, but i have a bubble algae and im worried it would pop. How big to they get about?

 

[Bryknicks]

I have good enough flow, even though i think the flow makes the algae brow longer. Clean up crew i could probably add a bit more, I originally had 1 emerald crab, 4 margarita snails and 4 hermits. Im thinking of buying like 2 nassarius snails, 1 starfish and maybe a pinchusion urchin. I want the urchin, ive been told they eat lots of algae, but i have a bubble algae and im worried it would pop. How big to they get about?

I've never tried a pencil urchin as other warn against it due to the destructiveness. I have a tuxedo urchin in my nano and it is a powerhouse. Haven't had any issues with it yet. Don't worry about the bubble algae popping as many claim that to be a myth in spreading spores around. I had some in both my tanks and two emerald crabs and manual removal have eliminated them. I haven't seen any in close to 8-9 months. Bump up the cuc and make sure to have good nutrient exporting to keep nutrients in check and you should start seeing a difference. Stir the sand around twice a week or get more critters to help out like conchs, a lot more nassarius, blue leg crabs, etc.

 

[Dark_Knightt]

I've never tried a pencil urchin as other warn against it due to the destructiveness. I have a tuxedo urchin in my nano and it is a powerhouse. Haven't had any issues with it yet. Don't worry about the bubble algae popping as many claim that to be a myth in spreading spores around. I had some in both my tanks and two emerald crabs and manual removal have eliminated them. I haven't seen any in close to 8-9 months. Bump up the cuc and make sure to have good nutrient exporting to keep nutrients in check and you should start seeing a difference. Stir the sand around twice a week or get more critters to help out like conchs, a lot more nassarius, blue leg crabs, etc.

i dont think i want a conch, those are just huge snails and i dont really like big ssnails/slugs. Ill definitely try and get some nassarius snails, some more hermit crabs (can I mix blue leg with red leg?) and maybe the tuxedo urchin and/or brittle star. And maybe some more margarita snails or some turban or trochus snails. How does that sound?

 

[Bryknicks]

i dont think i want a conch, those are just huge snails and i dont really like big ssnails/slugs. Ill definitely try and get some nassarius snails, some more hermit crabs (can I mix blue leg with red leg?) and maybe the tuxedo urchin and/or brittle star. And maybe some more margarita snails or some turban or trochus snails. How does that sound?

The conch has made the biggest difference for me in mixing my sand, now I have to manually do it much less. Yes you can mix red and blue hermits. Keep extra shells in the tank so they don't fight for space as they grow out of their existing shells.

 

[SMSREEF]

i dont think i want a conch, those are just huge snails and i dont really like big ssnails/slugs. Ill definitely try and get some nassarius snails, some more hermit crabs (can I mix blue leg with red leg?) and maybe the tuxedo urchin and/or brittle star. And maybe some more margarita snails or some turban or trochus snails. How does that sound?

Nassarius snails don’t eat algae.
for the sandbed about 10 small cerith snails will help. As stated abou even, conch would be good too.
Manual removal of hair algae is key. CUC will help keep it from coming back but will not eat the long stuff.
If you like you coralline algae, I would stay away from urchins. If you don’t care, they are great.

 

[SMSREEF]

And I’m in Miami. Could give you some baby trochus snails if you want.
If you like snorkeling, you can collect your own snails in the grass beds. I caught all my cerith, hermits and quite a few astrea. You just need a fishing license and follow the rules of what’s allowed and bag limits.

 

[Anak’s Reef]

Nassarius snails don’t eat algae.
for the sandbed about 10 small cerith snails will help. As stated abou even, conch would be good too.
Manual removal of hair algae is key. CUC will help keep it from coming back but will not eat the long stuff.
If you like you coralline algae, I would stay away from urchins. If you don’t care, they are great.

+1 on this. Definitely good advice, Nassarius only eat detritus and only sift the sand by constantly going in and out of it. But, if you feed your tank lots, even if you think there isn’t any, there is, they won’t come out as often. The also eat dead or unhealthy creatures. They have eaten three of my snails that came unhealthy. Conch is awesome for the sand. They are super cool, and they do look like a blob, but I recently got one and I’ve seen the biggest change on algae growth in my sand! I love that they have eyeballs that just wobble around with the mouth. I had and still have kind of a hair algae problem too, yank and scrub, duck all of the algae, I’ve done it maybe 6-10 times and it’s slowing down. My problem was not enough CUC, I only had two astreas and 2 Nassarius. So now I have more, Cerith safe a good addition because they are really small, allowing them to get into spots snails with big shells like turbos can’t. And they do a great job along with astreas.

 

[Anak’s Reef]

For long hair algae on sand, what you should do is suck the top layer out, and wash it or rinse same thing. Anyway, rinse it in some RO or saltwater then just add it back in and get some CUC for sand. It works, CONCH is AMAZING!!

 

[Cbones1979]

Just manual remove it and let it phase its self out. 5 months is very new for a tank. Wacth nutrient levels and vacuum sand bed when doing water change.

I’m same with yeah. Algae growing in sand, phosphates almost 0 and going on month 6

 

[Ti64reef]

I've had the same issue on my 400 gallon. It's getting better but expect it will take a few more months. Unfortunately it seems like time and effort is the best option to clean up.

 

[Chrysemys]

i dont think i want a conch, those are just huge snails and i dont really like big ssnails/slugs

I have to say I almost never see my conch. He is buried in the sand doing his thing. It can be months between sightings. So don’t let the look of a “huge snail” deter you from a great member of the CUC.
When I first got him I assumed he must have died buried in the sand somewhere. So I combed the sand looking for him. Found him, no sight of anything in the shell. Thought yep he is dead, better get him out so he doesn’t load the tank with nutrients. Gave the shell a sniff to see how bad it was, no smell? Threw it back in the tank and ~30 minutes later he had disappeared.
I put all that in here as a advocate for the conch and to suggest you give it shot and do not give up on him. He stirs that sand bed so you don’t have to as much.

 

[Paul B]

It's normal natural and healthy. If you didn't have any algae, I would be concerned. Go out to dinner and don't worry about it. Try the Mussels Marinara.