Maroon Sand...

[T4Stock]

Pardon my Newbie-ignorance, but I have a patch of sand that has turned maroon about an inch below the surface. What is it?


Thanks

 

[swreefer]

Probably cyanobacteria.

 

[canadawest]

And the next question...

Is that good or bad?

I have a lot of dark patches of sand in my sandbed, and I was under the impression that it's a good thing. A sign of a healthy active sandbed? Can someone enlighten?

 

[percula]

How old is your tank? That helps to diagnose the problem...

 

[T4Stock]

My tank is about 7 months old..... so is cyanobacteria good or bad....

 

[MontanaRocknReefer]

Are you talking about the color up against the glass under the substrate level? My tank is 7 months old and I believe you have nothing to worry about. It means you DSB is maturing. JMO Johnny

 

[MontanaRocknReefer]

Are you talking about the color up against the glass under the substrate level? My tank is 7 months old and I believe you have nothing to worry about. It means you DSB is maturing. JMO Johnny

 

[Anonymous]

To answer your question about Cyano it is a natural bacteria and can be very bad if it blooms out of control. If you keep fish that are grazing eaters there is a chance that they may injest some and it will kill them. Almost all fish will not eat it on purpose but if it is out of control it will kill. A few aquarist have lost their fish population to this bacteria, it is also refered to as red slime algae but is not an algae at all.

If you are refering to the discolored sand below your sand line on your glass, you are the proud owner of a healthy thriving DSB and is cause to point and brag to anyone who walks in your house as you are doing the right thing

 

[pathos]

yep that sounds normal for a 7 month old tank. IME it will get worse before it gets better. Keep a close eye on it as it can spread beyond your sandbed and suffocate your LR and corals. You may have to suck it out every once in a while when you clean your tank. It should subside in a month or 2. Then you will have other green algaes to worry about! Keep an eye on your phosphates, use RO h2o, and roughly 20% water change/month and you'll be fine.

 

[T4Stock]

Fishaholic, you hit it on the head i think... it's below my sand bed... not "slimey", etc.... so there you go... yeah!