What is wrong with my sandbed?

[Patty's tank]

Hello, so I have a 75 gallons set up with about an inch of sand and about 70lbs of live rock! The tank has been set up for about 4 months old and I keep getting this brown film over my sand. I feel like every time I clean it comes back a lot worse, within hours! What started as just brown spots has now turned into stringy brown spots! But it is only on the sand, live rock is sparkling clean. Can anyone help me figure out what this is and what I need to to do to fix it?! Thanks in advance

I currently have 10 Astraea Snails, 10 hermit crabs, 9 nassarious snails, 1 emerald crab, 4 peppermint shrimps, 2 clowns, and 1 magnificent foxface.

Water parameters: PH 8.0, ammonia 0, nitrite 0, nitrate 5, KH 8

 

[Ivandrago]

4 month your tank is still setting in and those are diatoms. It maybe a sign of not enought water flow ..

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

Theres nothing wrong with it. Its like a teen ager. Its the ugly Phase. Probably a cyano bacteria or one of the common dinos or diatoms.
Usually they fade after a few weeks.
Can you get a closer Pic?

And Welcome to reef2reef!

 

[MaiReef]

+1 on water flow. Also, that is a result of phosphate levels. So you may want to check them.

 

[TheEngineer]

A closer pic would help. There appear to be bubbles under there which is typically a sign of dinoflagellates.

 

[Gustavo Martinez]

Are you toping off with tap water?

 

[Gustavo Martinez]

This happened to a friend of mine, he always had issues like this.

 

[Patty's tank]

Thanks for you inputs! This is my first aquarium so I'm very new to the hobby, here are a few more pictures

 

[Patty's tank]

I have never used tap water! I get RO/DI and saltwater from my LFS

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

Some folks freak out, but its a pretty normal thing..
What are you feeding the tank? any aminos or vitamin c. Thats like chocolate to a teenagers pimples.

looks like your coralline is coming in pretty nice.

 

[TheEngineer]

Looks like Cyanobacteria to me. Normal "new tank" stuff.

 

[MaddyP]

Those appear to be dinos. Generally a sign of bacterial imbalance in the tank. Sometimes they go away with time, but I've had success with hydrogen peroxide dosing with no effect to any of my many critters/corals. It is still a very new tank, I would wait it out and see how the tank balances out.

 

[TheEngineer]

Those appear to be dinos. Generally a sign of bacterial imbalance in the tank. Sometimes they go away with time, but I've had success with hydrogen peroxide dosing with no effect to any of my many critters/corals. It is still a very new tank, I would wait it out and see how the tank balances out.

Dinos are brownish green and snotty looking with lots of bubbles under them. This looks to be the tell-tale purple-red of cyanobacteria. The bubbles under it are just because the cyano mat can get thick and hold the bubbles in from critters in the sand.

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

#reefsquad Are there any Ugly phase articles out there? That would totally be handy.

 

[Patty's tank]

Some folks freak out, but its a pretty normal thing..
What are you feeding the tank? any aminos or vitamin c. Thats like chocolate to a teenagers pimples.

looks like your coralline is coming in pretty nice.

I'm feeding them LRS reef frenzy and I'm giving the foxface half a sheet of green seaweed! Once a day

I will just let it be and wait it out! Hopefully it will clear out soon because it looks so nasty

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

I'm feeding them LRS reef frenzy and I'm giving the foxface half a sheet of green seaweed! Once a day

I will just let it be and wait it out! Hopefully it will clear out soon because it looks so nasty

yea, basically waht happens is the bio filter(cycle) in a new tank is ramping up. so a lot of the un eaten food and poop go un process by the good bacteria(cycle) , so other organisms take advantage of it.
On thought, try a different food for a week. Variety is good, but sometimes foods react differently in a tank. keep the seaweed, and get a different meat blend.

 

[Patty's tank]

Awesome! I will try that, thanks everyone

 

[Jdeleon]

I'm feeding them LRS reef frenzy and I'm giving the foxface half a sheet of green seaweed! Once a day

I will just let it be and wait it out! Hopefully it will clear out soon because it looks so nasty

One of my powerheads went out on me mid last week and wasn't able to replace it till yesterday. almost immediately after it went out I had this same type algae start spreading in mostly half the tank. Now that its replaced im seeing less already but still some in various spots but only been a day, ill update once/if it clears out. seems to me like its an effect from lack of flow. ill give mine time before I dose anything

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

One of my powerheads went out on me mid last week and wasn't able to replace it till yesterday. almost immediately after it went out I had this same type algae start spreading in mostly half the tank. Now that its replaced im seeing less already but still some in various spots but only been a day, ill update once/if it clears out. seems to me like its an effect from lack of flow. ill give mine time before I dose anything

yea lack of flow will send nutrients up sometimes depending on how the tank is doing with them and flow. I bout some of those cheap 2 for $16 powerheds to keep as a backup. I also dose some prime and stability to keep bolstering the cycle. Not sure if it helps but it sounds good and makes me feel better

 

[Patty's tank]

I've got two hydor 1500gph but only run one at a time, alternating each hour! Is that enough flow?