How Do I Do This?

[burky_tc]

Personally I never clean my sand. All the organisms and CuC in the tank should do that for you. Stirring up the sand bed too much can cause problems too because all the stuff growing in there. That is why some people have a hard time moving a tank and using the old sand because it gets all stirred up.

Sand is a very beneficial part to a saltwater tank and this is why you see people doing RDSB(remote deep sand beds) that are located outside the tank and never get disturbed.

 

[FLESHY]

It works if it is done right, but it is not simple, it is not stable, and there are many risks associated.

It removes a lot of variables if you keep them clean. As for the bacteria, yes some are dying, but there is more that isnt. Your liverock has constant flow over it and disturbances but it isnt losing bacteria.

I would rather keep my tank as sterile and clean as possible. It eliminates reasons for things to go wrong. Even people with RDSB have them set up so that h2o flows through pushing crap out one side or the other for cleaning...they ran a good article about it in TFH a couple months back...the only one that I would ever consider.

Your tank isnt big enough to run a full marine ecosystem...it cant sustain all the things the ocean can in the sand bed. The ocean moves TONS of sand everyday...basically as far is it wants to move it. There is tons of agitation, and waste products removed.

For me, and for most people, especially beginners, I would recommend vacuuming your substrate.

 

[Kinggreenterror]

i didnt cleaning sand was so hard. I have gravel in my tank I use to have to have sand I think but that was a long time ago. Sand does look more natural though and btw nice GT

 

[calpoly12]

Thanks for all the input guys, I greatly appreciate it!! I do have a problem though and I think I found out whats causing my algae problem. Yesterday I did my first water change on the tank and took out about two gallons of water. I cleaned a lot of the diatoms off the sand by sucking it up. Everything looked great and I shut the lights off for the night. I checked it this morning and I saw that everything was still pretty in check.Just about five minutes ago I got back from a day of being out and I saw that the algae has exploded!!!!!!! The whole front of my tank which is bare sand is covered in the diatoms. I think that the problem is the water I'm using. Heres why
I read that tap water makes it easy for algae to explode quickly because they feed off of something that is in tap water. The name of the substance in the tap water is slipping my mind, but I believe it begins with an "s". I thought about this and was sure that I didnt use tap water as I filled both my jugs (fresh and salt) at the LFS as they said they use RO water. The reason that I needed to fill them there is that I cant get an RO unit for about a week and I wasnt about to use my home water. So anyway, I think that my LFS doesnt use RO water, instead they just use regular tap water and treat it.
Basically, I think this is the case because I hadnt done a water change since starting my tank and once I added the LFS water the algae exploded. Sorry if thats confusing, I can try and explain it better if need be. Any thoughts? I have 3 blue leg hermits in there right now and can get some more cleaners tomorrow. Here is a little guy going to town!!!

 

[calpoly12]

btw nice GT

Its cich wit its GT wish it was mine
Sorry forgot to mention this but my sand bed is probably 2-4 inches deep. Is that too much for an 8g bio? Is it gonna cause problems later? Also should I do another water change tonight or is it WAY to soon and most likely will cause the diatoms to grow even more

 

[FLESHY]

You have silicates in your h2o, and probably a lot in your sand as well from all the dust you didnt wash off. There will be diatoms galore for awhile with 4" of substrate in a tank that small...yet another reason to vacuum the gravel, you will get some of that dust from your substrate out, and therefore some of the silicates.

You are going to probably need RO water though if your tap h2o has high silicates.

 

[burky_tc]

Ok your tank is cycling and this is normal. Once in a great while you will see a saltwater tank cycling and thing will be completely covered in algae. I mean it will look completely nasty! This is part of it and once its cycled these will start to diminish and the CuC will take care of the rest.

There is no need to keep siphoning the diatoms. They will go away eventually. The reason it was fine until you got back is the light caused the bloom. Light has an affect on it and many algaes. When people get cyano problems they will shut off their lights for a few days and this will typically take care of the problem. I have personal experience with this. It will take care of the initial problem but then you need to figure out what is causing it.

 

[FLESHY]

Agreed to that...but he has silicates in his substrate from the dust from the sand.

I would want to get that out...but you are right, in time it will go away. Astrea snails are good to help with this.

 

[calpoly12]

You have silicates in your h2o, and probably a lot in your sand as well from all the dust you didnt wash off. There will be diatoms galore for awhile with 4" of substrate in a tank that small...yet another reason to vacuum the gravel, you will get some of that dust from your substrate out, and therefore some of the silicates.

You are going to probably need RO water though if your tap h2o has high silicates.

I'm going to pick an RO unit up next week. Any suggestions on how deep my sand bed should be? I do have have a half bag of "live sand" that I didn't use. Should I dry the sand I didnt use out and wash it? Then vacuum the sand I can out of the tank. After that wet the live sand I didnt use and then vacuum it into the tank thus making a new sand bed? Or will this just cause a bigger mess than its worth?

Ok your tank is cycling and this is normal. Once in a great while you will see a saltwater tank cycling and thing will be completely covered in algae. I mean it will look completely nasty! This is part of it and once its cycled these will start to diminish and the CuC will take care of the rest.

There is no need to keep siphoning the diatoms. They will go away eventually. The reason it was fine until you got back is the light caused the bloom. Light has an affect on it and many algaes. When people get cyano problems they will shut off their lights for a few days and this will typically take care of the problem. I have personal experience with this. It will take care of the initial problem but then you need to figure out what is causing it.

Should I buy some more CuC? Also are diatoms truly bad or do the just look like crap?

 

[FLESHY]

They just look like crap.

If your sand is too fine to vacuum without removing it from the tank dont bother. Your sand bed is already deep. Just leave it alone and wait it out. You will have to do something about the tapwater though if that is the source.