sand bed gets brown sometimes WHY??

[Budman's Corals]

Im Wondering y my sand bed builds up a brown color sometimes.also glass will start spotting with brown film..Am i feeding to much...I have one of each fish, sailfin Niger,huma,4 clowns ,8 little green chromis and a 6 line wrasse ,diamond goby, blue damsel,black damsel,scooter bleny ,sounds like alot fish but sure dont look it...Also how much food is a niger huma ,etc suppose to eat,they always look hungry...Any help please...

 

[SeymourDuncan]

Diatoms. they are a completely natural product that is a sign of possibly silicates? I use silica sand to Fuel Diatoms as a matter of fact, I feel it feeds critters things they normally wouldnt eat in a Spotless tank. They occur in nature and are a great food source for things.

The best animal I know in the entire world for Diatoms are Marine Acclimated Mollies, as long as you do not have fish that will eat them. They are terrible swimmers, so they are good in frag tanks, community tanks, and refugiums.

 

[SeymourDuncan]

https://www.reef2reef.com/forums/reef-chemistry-forum/97493-silicate-sand-yes-i-am-insane.html

 

[Budman's Corals]

https://www.reef2reef.com/forums/reef-chemistry-forum/97493-silicate-sand-yes-i-am-insane.html

Thanks for that info

 

[SeymourDuncan]

No problem, now there is alot more to diatoms than silica, so it could be other issues that are causing them, so dont rule out anything until you are sure.

 

[YVR]

Diatom and Algae problems are usually caused by aquarium water with excess nutrients like phosphate, nitrates etc. You can try and siphon out what you can to remove the algae in the short term. In the long term you may have to examine how you care for your tank. There are some commercial dry foods also contain excess nutrients and other undesirable things like nitrates, phosphates etc so I strain/rinse my fresh/frozen foods before feeding my tank. You may want to consider feeding your fish less often. Also, changing your photo period, light bulbs more flow, using RO/DI water and a high quality salt with little if any NO3, phosphates etc like Tropic Marin may help too. Adding a phosphate remover and increasing flow in your tank may help too.

 

[SeymourDuncan]

sometimes increased flow will accelerate the diatoms, I had a bloom that only happened by my 3200 gph pump where it blasted the glass, i hate diatoms sometimes when they encrust rather than dust...the flow rate dictates their grip, so you have to find a sweet spot as far as flow.