How do you all keep your Tanks so clean

[zwulfke]

So I started mine about 3 months ago and it has been mostly clean except for a few weeks ago and I got brown something all over the sand. It penetrated so even if I try to clean it it does not come off. My cleaning crew of 4 turbo and 2 peppermint shrimp have done nothing to help it. Mt parameters are all good

Sal:1.025
Am:0
No2:0
no3:0
Ph:8.2
cal:600 (a bit High)
kh:0

So if you look how do I get it cleaned up in my tank without making a mess or disturbing it

 

[StikHedRon]

Brown stuff on the sand could be multiple things, Diatoms and Cyano are the most common. Diatoms love Silicate and Cyano love nutrients. Start with your source water, are you using 0 TDS water and are you positive it's 0 TDS? Alot of issues begin with the source water and it's so easy to over look. What is that green leafy stuff on your rocks?

 

[zwulfke]

I use RO/DI from my local LFS its $0.80 a gallon I do a 5 gallon change once a week currently. The green growth you see is Large Leaf Watercress Algae I was told it is a good thing from the LFS. I will look up the two you listed and see maybe I had a silicate issue. Since it has no gotten worse it has been the same now for 2 weeks

 

[TriggerThis]

It's part of the cycling process. Read up on the stages.
Your rocks will soon turn green and everything. And don't try to clean them

 

[Reefing Madness]

I don't see anything wrong with the tank. Looks pretty good to me!!
One question though:
Your dKH is 0?? Your snails need it to grow.

 

[zwulfke]

I don't see anything wrong with the tank. Looks pretty good to me!!
One question though:
Your dKH is 0?? Your snails need it to grow.

I got reef kit API Reef Master Test Kit tests KH it said you should have closet 0 as possible is there away to add some in for the snails?

 

[Reefing Madness]

dKH you want between 7-12
there are a few ways to add it, one would be adding Baking Soda, using a teaspoon. I dont have the calculator handy sorry.

 

[StikHedRon]

I would ensure that you are reading your test kits accurately, any salt as some DKH in it already and your tank with 0 corals can not use up that much alkalinity. I would refrain from supplementing untill you have a better knowledge of your system and the parameters with in it.

 

[Reefing Madness]

I dont see any coral in there but that coralline is going to eat that up right quick. If you dont keep it up fhat purple coralline will turn white.

 

[miyags]

I think your doing alk test wrong, If your doing 5 gal a week water changes your alk should atleast be around 7

 

[bearjohnson]

I agree with all of the above. There is no way your dKH is -0-

You may be confusing that for a phosphate reading?

 

[zwulfke]

After rereading the directions and doing the test again I got 7 for the dKH I am not sure of where my mistake was. Though I did lose 1 out of 4 turbo snails ?? not sure why

 

[beaslbob]

the dirty little secret is that we clean the tank before we take pictures.

 

[SloppyJ]

You're not done cycling. You still have detectable nitrites.