sand substrate

[Emily]

my tank has been running for around 6 months now. lots of live rock, sand sifters, brittle stars,cleaning crew, few fish and some corals. I have it all under a hydra fifty two and I've noticed that under the sand bed it is changing colors, purple, pink, green etc... is this normal? bad?

 

[Pete polyp]

How deep is your sand? Its normal with dsb from what I have experienced.

 

[Emily]

hey pete dumb question, what is dsb? sand bed is about 2" deep with live sand

 

[Reefing Madness]

Its the LEDs, the intensity of them will do that to the sand bed. You can turn your lighting down a smidge to help this out. I get it every week under my LEDs, never had it happen under 250w halides. If you stay in the more blue range, it will also help.

 

[Emily]

Thanks, I adjusted them last night and used more blurs and violets, turned down my UV. Thanks. Is it a problem I should do something about?

 

[Emily]

***blues, lol

 

[Pete polyp]

Won't an external light source also cause this? If the room has lots of natural sunlight for instance?

This is what my sand looks like, and I'm using all t5. The room does get some sunlight though.

 

[Pete polyp]

hey pete dumb question, what is dsb? sand bed is about 2" deep with live sand

Dsb is short for deep sand bed.

 

[Emily]

lol, thanks pete and this is exactly what my sand bed looks like!

 

[Reefing Madness]

AH I see now. It reads "under the sand bed". I need to learn how to read.
That coloring usually happens like Pete said, its usually on a DSB. DSB run in layers, its usually under the 2" layer that the colors start to grow around.
LEDs will discolor the top layer.

 

[Pete polyp]

AH I see now. It reads "under the sand bed". I need to learn how to read.
That coloring usually happens like Pete said, its usually on a DSB. DSB run in layers, its usually under the 2" layer that the colors start to grow around.
LEDs will discolor the top layer.

That 2" mark is where all the action happens!

 

[Emily]

So good???

 

[Reefing Madness]

Yup, for now its good. Overtime you will have to redo it, as they do have a life span, and can get really nasty. But yes, thats a good sign.

 

[Pete polyp]

I'm not exactly sure if I would use "good"... Normal seems like a better fit. I'm not exactly sure what it is.... I can take a stab at it and assume its phosphate that has been absorbed along with bacteria. I'm thinking I had read about it long ago, but can't exactly remember..... I'm getting old!

Please correct me if that information is wrong, I'm interested in finding out exactly what it is.

 

[Emily]

lol, me too. but I won't fret for now