Sand turning brown

[hawk82]

My tank is officially one year old now. The past week or so my sand has been getting some brown spots on it, almost like diatoms. I can brush it way with a turkey baster, and everything looks fine till a few days later. What should I be looking for as to the cause of problem, or will it just work its self out in time? The tank glass is covered with coralline, and I dont see any kind of other algae problems, a little green hair on my powerheads, but nothing out of control.

 

[Saltyreef]

Diatom bloom likely.

A sand bed vacuuming or removal and rinse would likely take care of that if your tank is a year old. Likely still full of silica.

Better than dinos though lol

 

[Billdogg]

You are most likely on the right track. Diatoms can come and go - I tend to see them in the winter/early spring. My guess is that it has something to do with the quality of the ambient light.

 

[Mical]

+1 @Billdogg - and make sure you have lots of flow (powerheads/water movement)

 

[Uncle99]

I’d test both N and P and ensure they have remained stable, on-point and in the range.
If good, do nothing.

 

[vetteguy53081]

What is age of tank. First 80 days or so, not unusual to have this.
What can assist you are following snails:
Astrea
cerith
nerite
margarita
nassarius

 

[Cjeippert]

Spend $40 on ICP to know for sure what is in the water. Silicon (silicates could be present). You then could add an anion di stage prior to a mixed bed resin stage or spectra pure silica buster. Turbo snails definitely help keep it from coming back to quickly.