brown clumps on my sand bed???

[tim000]

just wanted to know what these brown clumps are that are forming on my sand bed, it looks like some kind of algee? how do I get rid of this?
thanks,
tim

 

[danmhippo]

Is your tank still breaking-in? Stir it to loosen the sand underneath it, and siphon off the cynobacteria.

 

[samurai9]

Sounds like diatoms to me. I have that problem, it is a brown coating that develops on the sand, looks like cyano but i think its diatoms. Sorry, I've been fighting diatoms for 7 months and still haven't figured out how to get rid of them.

But check nitrates and silicates. My nitrates are about 2 ppm but I don't have a silicate test kit, so silicates could be the problem in my case. Are you using a RO/DI unit? Even just RO alone may not be enough to get rid of unwanted polyatomic ions. That would be my first line of defense against diatoms.

 

[tim000]

yes I only use RO water, and my nitrates are 0ppm, I was thinking it was due to the lack of water movement because one of my big powerheads that blows on the sandbed got unpluged for 10 days.
BTW I stired up the sand 2 days ago and then the next day it was back, it has almost a pinkish redish color to it not so much brown as I thought before. also the tank has been set up for 3 months.
any suggestions on what it could be or how I can get rid of it?
thanks for the help so far!
tim

 

[danmhippo]

In my past experiences, I would observe diaton/cyno growth the the early stage of tank setup normally immediated followed by sudden increase of NO3 and PO4. If you are in the middle of the bloom, and your NO3 test would most likely regiter 0 as the cyno utilizes most of hte excess nutrients.

Test your RO water make sure its NO3 and PO4 are registering at 0. Biggest source of PO4 are food input, and biggest source of NO3 is biological activities which is the indirect result of food input as well (among other things).

Tim, what do you currently have in the tank, and how many fish, how often you feed? and How much (quantity) do you feed? Are you adding any additives? How long are your lights stays on?

 

[Anonymous]

I had the same problem with diatoms in my reef tank. Try using "Coralife Marine Tank Clarifier". It worked great for me - cleared up the diatoms in about 4 days.

 

[Michelle50]

I can feel your pain. As I am having the same problem. Someone told me lighting may have something to do with it, if your bulbs are older. If you can get the power heads down low on the sand that helps too. Maybe cutting a few hours off your lighting period will help. I don't know for sure but these are suggestions that were given to me. They seem to help a bit.

Good luck,
Michelle