cant keep white sand white

[KILLERKOI]

hows it going guys im having a tough time keeping my white sand clean its turning a brownish orange color and is starting to form sub layers of filth ive cleaned it quite a few times in a row to try to clear up the water and skim the sand but no luck any one have pure white sand and know any trix on how to keep ur whites white....... thanx!!

 

[Angler]

Hmmm.. I have had light colored sand in many tanks and have not had this problem. Only problem I have had is how easily poo shows up on it.

What size tank? What filtration? What inhabitants? What feeding regiment? What lighting schedule? What water parameters?

 

[jworth]

brown algae grows on immature tanks sometimes for no apparent reason. this happened to me and it just stopped. wait it out if all the parameters are good and it is not receiving direct sunlight.

 

[KILLERKOI]

its a 55g tank with a 75g penntech cannister filter its been running for abt 4 months now and at the moment nothings in it, gonna turn it into a comunty tank but i just cant get the discolor out, i had 2 baby oscurs in it then moved them out to bigger tank ,and thats the only fish that was ever in it. if worst comes to worst i may just buy more white sand but its so darn hard to find..

 

[jworth]

adding more sand wont help. is the tank cycled then if nothing has ever been in it?

 

[KILLERKOI]

its cycled the oscurs were in it for abt 3 1/2 months and they were fine they just grew to fast.

 

[Lupin]

If your tank has excess amounts of silicates, naturally, the diatoms will coat the substrate. What is your lighting there? Are you telling us your tank has no fish anymore because you moved your oscars? If so, what are the water parameters?

 

[LisaH]

When my white sand tank was new I would get brown algae on the sand.

Just take the hard plastic part off of your gravel vac. Use just the hose part and syphon the top of sand up the hose and into a bucket. When full take the bucket to the sink and bail water down the drain (if you have nice weather...then outside to the garden) Repeat until the brown is no longer on the sand. Then take your bucket of sand outside and keep rinsing it with a hose til the brown water is gone. I use a kids sand shovel to stir it also. Then put the sand back in the tank. Don't worry...you wont have the brown alage forever. Mine stuck around for about 5 months.

After you get it all cleaned up you may want to buy some phosphate remover and put it in your filter.

 

[NotoriousSway]

any pics?

 

[FSM]

If there are no fish in the tank, I don't see how it can be cycled. The bacteria need ammonia to live...