Hate the way my sand looks

[roggy23]

Help?

 

[TastesLikeChicken]

They are diotoms. They will pass in time and as your tank matures and nutrient levels are better controlled. A light vacuuming will do wonders.

 

[roggy23]

They are diotoms. They will pass in time and as your tank matures and nutrient levels are better controlled. A light vacuuming will do wonders.

I've started vaccummin...have done 2 last 2 weakly water changes

 

[Pico bam]

You could get a strawberry conch.

 

[roggy23]

You could get a strawberry conch.

Just got a regular conch 2 days ago...moving slow atm

 

[WheatToast]

You could get a strawberry conch.

Nassarius snails too.

 

[roggy23]

Nassarius snails too.

Got about 10 of those

 

[tharbin]

Nassarius snails too.

Nassarius don't eat diatoms but they will help keep the sand bed healthy. The conch would clean it up quickly but they get big. Trochus and Cerith snails will also consume diatoms but not as well as the conch.

It will pass in time without any intervention. When you vacuum the sandbed do only a section, maybe a quarter of the bed, per water change. Churning the sand brings fresh silica to the surface which the diatoms use to grow. You can also increase the flow down by the sandbed. It looks like your pumps are fairly far above the rockwork/sandbed but that could just be the camera angle.

If it gets out of control, which it is not yet at that point, you can leave the lights off for three days to reduce the growth. It will not eliminate them but it will reduce them to let you get ahead of the curve.

Missed your post about having a conch. All snails can take time to settle in. It'll probably handle most it pretty soon.

 

[roggy23]

Nassarius don't eat diatoms but they will help keep the sand bed healthy. The conch would clean it up quickly but they get big. Trochus and Cerith snails will also consume diatoms but not as well as the conch.

It will pass in time without any intervention. When you vacuum the sandbed do only a section, maybe a quarter of the bed, per water change. Churning the sand brings fresh silica to the surface which the diatoms use to grow. You can also increase the flow down by the sandbed. It looks like your pumps are fairly far above the rockwork/sandbed but that could just be the camera angle.

If it gets out of control, which it is not yet at that point, you can leave the lights off for three days to reduce the growth. It will not eliminate them but it will reduce them to let you get ahead of the curve.

Missed your post about having a conch. All snails can take time to settle in. It'll probably handle most it pretty soon.

Thanks I'll lower the height of mp40

 

[ZoWhat]

Vodka dosing + 6weeks time = lots of happy beneficial bacter-i in the substrate

 

[ApoIsland]

Help?

As already stated it probably will pass with time unless you are using straight tap water. Tiger tail sea cucumber cleans the sand well but would take an army of them to cover that real estate. Could also get a coris wrasse. They will keep that sand bed turned up no problem.

If mine gets bad I take 5 minutes during the monthly water change to syphon out the diatom layer and rinse it off before putting back in. Usually looks like brand new sand for a while.

 

[Brittanyjo]

My two diamond gobies keep my sand really clean.

 

[Brittanyjo]

I have two diamond gobies that keep my sand really clean.

 

[Staghorn]

If you get a walrus and a carpenter they will sweep it clear in half a year

 

[Staghorn]

If you don’t mind the work

 

[roggy23]

I have two diamond gobies that keep my sand really clean.

I just got 1 diamond Goby today

 

[wonroc]

my goby doesnt sand sift. i guess its their preference

 

[Tamberav]

I've started vaccummin...have done 2 last 2 weakly water changes

If you just started... it probably has a lot of crud in it if you never cleaned it before.

 

[OU812Reefing]

Help?

Diamond goby my sand bed is beautiful

 

[CanuckReefer]

Agree with the thoughts on the Conch and Trochus....even Nassarius. I wouldn't go with a Sea Cucumber yet, more mature tank yes. And as others have mentioned, siphon out gradually. Slow and steady wins the race.... growing pains and all...