Sandbed Algae won't go away!

[SurfTrack]

Ive been trying everything, GFO reactors, carbon, PhosGuard, extra water changes, black outs, and limited feedings but the brown sandbed algae won't go away. What do I do?

 

[brandon429]

see our sand rinse thread, last five pages will do. fixes, just by cleaning.

I think not one other thread has more sandbed fixes in fact.
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/t...ead-aka-one-against-many.230281/#post-2681445


that doesn't mean its the only way, there's long term/slower ways avail for large or inaccessible tanks

but if you have a small tank, nothing beats that method.

 

[SurfTrack]

see our sand rinse thread, last five pages will do. fixes, just by cleaning.

I think not one other thread has more sandbed fixes in fact.

I completely replaced my sandbed months ago. The more I vacuum and clean the sand the more algae is growing. Im starting to think there could be something in my water.

 

[BestMomEver]

+1^ Repeated gravel washes did it for me.

 

[Bouncingsoul39]

Dose a combination of Brightwell Microbacter 7 and Red Sea NoPoX daily and your sand bed will be cleared up within a week. *But....you need a good functioning protein skimmer that really works well, not a piece of junk that doesn't.

 

[brandon429]

I guess its possible for it to be directly fed

are you able to drop a hand in the bed, bring up sand and drop it mid tank without clouding or does that cloud

 

[brandon429]

also, not pre rinsing new sand is associated with early invasions we covered as well

can't wait to hear if it passes a drop test or not though

 

[SurfTrack]

I guess its possible for it to be directly fed

are you able to drop a hand in the bed, bring up sand and drop it mid tank without clouding or does that cloud

My sand is clean, there is some detritus but not much.

 

[brandon429]

we don't show any non compliant tanks in the thread when that detritus is made gone, cloudless. handy to keep as an idea if your tank is small vs inaccessibly large.

other hands off ways that leave clouding alone might work over time, that's just an option to command it above if needed.

 

[High ICP]

Ive been trying everything, GFO reactors, carbon, PhosGuard, extra water changes, black outs, and limited feedings but the brown sandbed algae won't go away. What do I do?

Siphon it out?

 

[cperry7467]

Are they diatoms? I have problems with them because of high silica in my rodi. Whenever I see them it's a sure sign my DI resin is spent.

 

[brandon429]

and if they're dinos, those present in all kinds of conditions as well. pics

obligate hitchhiker, or dirty sandbed associate/ awaits id

 

[SurfTrack]

Are they diatoms? I have problems with them because of high silica in my rodi. Whenever I see them it's a sure sign my DI resin is spent.

I think they are diatoms. I just ordered a new DI resin. I haven't replaced it in a while.

 

[High ICP]

My sand is clean, there is some detritus but not much.

I would listen to Brandon. He know more about picos and sand than virtually anyone.

Two, I would hook up a UV sterilizer that’s over rated for the gallons. Then keep siphon cleaning the sand until the crud goes away. Whether it is algae, cyano, or diatoms the UV will kill it.

And of course have an effective protein skimmer. You need to get those dead cells out of the water.

The crud is just a normal part of the cycling of the tank, in my experience. If it’s not on the sand, it’s on the glass and rocks of sandless barebottom tanks.

If you have an extra $50 laying around, get an ICP test done.

 

[MnFish1]

+1^ Repeated gravel washes did it for me.

So did time

 

[MnFish1]

Are they diatoms? I have problems with them because of high silica in my rodi. Whenever I see them it's a sure sign my DI resin is spent.

You can buy a cheap inline TDS meter-which I'm sure you know -so that you don't need wait for a problem fix it...

 

[cperry7467]

I think they are diatoms. I just ordered a new DI resin. I haven't replaced it in a while.

My experience is once you cut off the source of silica they fade fairly quick. Like within a couple weeks without having to siphon or anything. I found my issue via ATI ICP-OES testing. They test your rodi water and mine had high silicates along with elevated levels in my tank. I was using a mixed bed DI resin at the time and was having to replace it monthly but it was hard to see the color change indicating the media was spent. Now I have a 3 stage DI resin bed (cation, anion, then mixed) and my issue is gone. Anion bed still goes pretty quick but easier to tell now.

 

[Fourstars]

Can't make it go away, How long has it been? I usually just leave the bed alone and it clears up on it's own when the tank matures. Just syphon the mats without stirring. I would NEVER suggest rinsing a sand bed.

 

[cperry7467]

You can buy a cheap inline TDS meter-which I'm sure you know -so that you don't need wait for a problem fix it...

I have a spectrapure with built in TDS and the output showed 0 while still having silicates. I even have a handheld TDS meter that I tested in my Brute container and it was 0. As I understand it silicates don't register well on TDS meters.

 

[MnFish1]

I have a spectrapure with built in TDS and the output showed 0 while still having silicates. I even have a handheld TDS meter that I tested in my Brute container and it was 0. As I understand it silicates don't register well on TDS meters.

The point being - if your system (RODI) is removing NACL etc to the point where its "zero" - there is no reason to think something else won't be "zero" as well. I.e. if your TDS is starting at 120 and ends at 0 - it would make sense that silicates, etc would also drop that same percentage (FOR THE MOST PART). ie. chloramine needs to be removed by carbon, silicates are mostly removed by your RO.

Now -if your water for some reason has high silicates - perhaps it could be a little high.