Why is my sand rusy color??

[FEENA23]

I have had a 75 gallon reef for over a year now.. Recently my pretty white sand has turned a rusty color on the top. Does anyone know why this might be happening???

[thefatman]

yeehaw i know the answer to this one!!!!

it's a diatom bloom. diatoms, as i udnerstand are sort of a type of algae. they feed off the silicates in the water.

they will eventually go away as something else in the tank will develope to eat them up, or once they exhaust the silicate supply.


btw: i only know the answer cuz i just asked it two weeks ago

do a search on the top menu for "diatom" and you'll find more thorough answers and explanations. than what i have given, sicne i'm still a newbie too

[FEENA23]

Cool........Thanks, Its sooooooo ugly!!!

[Geoff]

it could also be cyano. is it like a film on top of the sand? you might want to increase the circulation in the tank. are you skimming? you might not be exporting enough of the excess nutrients.

G~

[FEENA23]

Yes it is like a film on top of the sand. I have 4 powerheads (2 600's and 2 90's. Also a Prism skimmer.
What is Cyano and how would you get rid of it??

[Geoff]

the best thing to do is do a search in the archives for cyanobacteria, cyano, redslime algae. this will give you a lot of reading material and information to help you in this most annoying and sometimes difficult problem to fix. Tom has a lot of good posts to this problem that are sure to help you out.

oh, here is the search i got for cyanobacteria.

if you have more questions let us know.

G~

[FEENA23]

Thank you very much. You guys are alot of help. I am soooooo overwhelmed by all this new stuff!

[Minnreefer]

This is a good thread on the stuff that just about every tank gets at some time http://www.thereeftank.com/forums/sh...=cyanobacteria

Jon

[FEENA23]

I had just read that. Its interesting. I guess I am fine than. I am
going to do a major water change tomorrow if we can get our R.O unit up and running tonight. I think I will try to suck some of it off the sand bed when cleaning!!

[Minnreefer]

Originally posted by FEENA23
I I think I will try to suck some of it off the sand bed when cleaning!!

Sounds like a good plan, get as much off as possible and get a turkey baster and blow off the rock.

[FEENA23]

Ive been doing the turkey baster thing since Brooke mentioned
it. Its great!! Highly recommended. Its amazing what things come
out of the rocks?????