Will they keep my sand clean?

[Booboo33062]

Here are some pictures. As you can see I have red slime, and a lot of the sand has a skim on it. What I've heard is that fighting conch snails will eat it. Will they take care of my problem and keep the skim off the sand? How many should I get for my 150 gallon? Or should I get a diamond goby to take care of it? Tell me what I should do, or better yet what would you do?

[hugeness]

I don't know of any creature that actively eats that off the sand... Most people just get sand stirring creatures. The creatures you mentioned do a decent job of stirring things up. I have a queen conch and fighting conch that stir the sand up all day long. I have 10 nassarius as well, but honestly they're not so great at stirring sand but do well at picking up uneaten pieces of food.

[leveldrummer]

i would get 2 conchs, and a sifter, but if that is really fine grain sand, the sifter can turn that tank into a snow storm, maybe a cuke like someone mentioned in the other thread.

[combiemaster]

the best thing is to suck it out. i notice alot of returns up there so i dont think you dont have enoght flow. maybe you are overfeeding i remember getting the red slime. the way i got rid of mine was reduced feeding and reduce my photo period with wet skimming

[tims]

i agree.
a mix of some great tank maint. and reducing feeding and increasing flow will help this out.
i would back track and see where the worse areas are and why

[partobe]

How often do you do water changes? Do you use Ro or tap water?

[Booboo33062]

I do a W/C every two weeks, and no less than every 3 weeks. I have an RO/DI unit I use. I only feed every 2 or 3 days. I feed them some mush I made. I am only feeding them a small cube size piece. Do you think this is too much?

[Hardhead Cat]

I think you shouldn't buy a sand sifter animal just for the red slime on top of the sand because it eventually takes care of itself. If you can increase flow in your tank with a power head, and watch your phosphates (get them tested at the LFS if you don't have a test for it), the red stuff goes away on its own.

HHC

[Booboo33062]

I have tested for phosphates and it is 0.

[Loverotties]

I agree with Tim!

[Booboo33062]

see how the sand is clumped like a film is holding it all together in the pictures above? I try to suck it out, but it's hard to get it out.
That is what I want to get rid of too, not just the red slime.

[Little Luey]

I had the same problem when I had sand in my tank. I eliminated the problem by taking the sand out! No more trouble.

[tims]

Originally Posted by Booboo33062

I have tested for phosphates and it is 0.

the cyano is feeding off of this, so you will have problems getting a reading

Originally Posted by Booboo33062

see how the sand is clumped like a film is holding it all together in the pictures above? I try to suck it out, but it's hard to get it out.
That is what I want to get rid of too, not just the red slime.

the best thing i can tell you, make up some fresh saltwater, if you dont have a syphon kit get one. during the lighted time the cyano is out the strongest, suck it up then, move some of your LR and clean / suck off the cyano the best you can. if possible remove the LR all togeather and place ina holding tube for a little bit.Suck up the sand with the python. this will help break up the sand. what you are seeing is what happens when the sand forms its layers. once you break up the crust, you should not really have too much trouble with it after that.the Cyano is not really an algae but a bacteria,cyanobacteria are a type of heterotrophic bacteria. Heterotrophic bacteria, as opposed to autotrophic bacteria, get the carbon they need for growth from organic compounds( which is why you dont see the phospate level on your test kit). Cyanobacteria commonly grow in environments rich in particulate and dissolved organics . So to control cyanobacteria and get rid of them you need to look at the sources of dissolved organics in the aquarium and ways to reduce these organics.
the major cleaning and some serious skimming will help with this.
a few times of cleaning the sand with the syphon( python) with keep the sand nice and loose.
When you add the conchs , the gobies, sand sifting stars, Etc...
they are breaking up the sand and doing this because they are looking for food in the bed it self, they are after the micro orangsims that live in the sand it self.the sand sifting star is rarly seen until it can not find food in the sandbed it self.
How deep is your sandbed?

Originally Posted by Little Luey

I had the same problem when I had sand in my tank. I eliminated the problem by taking the sand out! No more trouble.

that is one way to do, but you can still end up with cynobacteria if you fall behind in your up keep of the tank.

sorry to ramble on...

hope this helps a bit.

[tims]

Originally Posted by Booboo33062

I do a W/C every two weeks, and no less than every 3 weeks. I have an RO/DI unit I use. I only feed every 2 or 3 days. I feed them some mush I made. I am only feeding them a small cube size piece. Do you think this is too much?

how old are the filters and what was yoru last TDS reading?
how many fish?
do you thaw the cube first? if so try and dump the water that is thaws in thsi will help remove any excess phospate that might be in the cube from the food itself.

to touch back the the cyano.,
this type of bactreia also need ot live off of the light you give it, this is why you see soooo much of it during the "lighted" time. after the 2nd major cleaning reduce the lighting time if you can with out hurting the coral. the reduced lighting time, the haevy cleaning anad removing ot the Cyano, and heavy skimming will help break it.. Will it be gone forever?..... no.. we all have it in our tanks, we just dont see it and keep in it check.