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Anybody know what this is?

falconut

falconut

NJRC Member
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Tank is over 7 years old and the sandbed is only 1"-2" thick. I've sifted the sand and left it alone for months, sifting it seems to work best. The longer I leave it alone, the thicker it eventually gets. If I sift it, it comes back the next day or two. My CUC's don't seem to last or do anything to it. PO4 is 0.00 on a Hanna checker and NO3 is less than 0.2 using a Salifert kit. No other algae is present. Kind of just looking or an ID on this stuff.
 
falconut

falconut

NJRC Member
My lighting schedule is already only 6 hours, not sure if it would be good to go much less. Years ago I used to run them 10 hours a day, but reduced it and have found that 6 hours has worked well. I keeps them from heating the tank and grows the corals well.

LEDs look great, but I really love the look of my MHs too. Maybe when or if my ballasts start to go.
 
S

sjfishguy

The past few months I have started to get this too and can't figure out why. I have never in all my years had this. I think its diatoms as well and it grows as the lights are on. You guys think changing the bulbs will have an effect?
 
NikkiT

NikkiT

sjfishguy said:
The past few months I have started to get this too and can't figure out why. I have never in all my years had this. I think its diatoms as well and it grows as the lights are on. You guys think changing the bulbs will have an effect?
Click to expand...

If it is diatoms, yes, it should. As our bulbs get older, they emit a different spectrum of light. Replacing the old bulbs changes the spectrum, and the diatoms should die off.
 
J

Jcurry@wesketch

Diatoms, dinos and cyano all grow in the lighted areas of the tank and can look very similar depending on how bad the infestation is. They are also treated very similarly however the dinos are poisinous and will kill any snail that tries to consume it.
 
motortrendz

motortrendz

NJRC Member
Try Adding h2o2 to you system.daily and check your ro/di system it may be time to replace the filters.

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2
 
myrjon

myrjon

Officer Emeritus
Officer Emeritus
had similar problem .Cut down on lighting drasticly for a few days .Then add a good cleanup crew especially Nassarius Snails.
 
M

mnat

Officer Emeritus
Staff member
Moderator
With halides you can go as low as 3-4 hours without dramatically affecting your corals. You can also black your tank our for 2-3 days without having any adverse effects.
 
falconut

falconut

NJRC Member
From reading some articles on dinoflagellates, it sounds like that stuff is bubbly and releases a toxin that kills snails. Mine never has bubbles, just coats the surface of the sandbed. Plus, I've got plenty of nerites still thriving along with 1 or 2 nassarius snails. So, I don't think that is what it is.

From some of the online photos, this seams like it could be my problem. A quick search mentions diatoms could be an indication of elevated silica. Any idea where this would come from? I'm read that some sand may have it, but wouldn't I have had issues from the start if the sand had it?

If my RO/DI filter is reading 0.00 TDS, doesn't that mean that it's filtering out all particals? Including silica?
 
T

Tri0 #3

I am having the same problem. When lights are on it covers the sand within a matter of 3 hours. After lights go off it dies off pretty fast. Keep in mind I have LED's so I'm not sure if its the lights. I did remove all my rock recently to clean it but all my params are perfect so I'm not sure what it is.

I am questioning my RO supply from a local LFS. I am constantly refiling my tank daily because of evaporation.

Falconut how do you check if your RO is coming out clean? Is there a test kit or something?
 
M

mnat

Officer Emeritus
Staff member
Moderator
You can pick up some more nassarius snails to help with the problem and you can also increase flow as well. I had them pop up for me in small areas when I took my CUC out to treat for flatworms and redbugs. Generally it was in areas with less flow than others, but after I added my CUC back it went away.

The silicates could be from the sandbed being stirred up and it coming to the surface. Generally all new tanks get some diatoms and they burn off over time.
 
falconut

falconut

NJRC Member
Trio #3 - I have a TDS meter installed after my DI filter. Mine doesn't go away after lights out, it just isn't as easy to see.

mnat - I've never been able to keep alot of nassarius snails. I think I just don't have enough food around the bottom for them. They usually dwindle down to just 1 or 2. I bought a bunch of ceriths a few months back hoping they would help, but they seem to have died off, maybe just 1 or 2 remain. I added powerheads on a wavemaker back in January to keep any low flow in check. This stuff doesn't seem effected by the higher flow.
 
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