brown on sand

[acasden]

Having trouble with brown coating on sand- all chemistry are good and have a goby and lots of crabs, snails etc. Any other ideas? what is cause and how to get rid of it ? thanks

 

[Mthompson]

most likely a diatom outbreak. How old is the tank? If it is a new set-up, this is common and will subside in a week or two...

 

[acasden]

it is about 9 months old, is it overfeeding but all my numbers are fine.

 

[Len]

What's odd is I just had this type of outbreak last week for no apparent reason. It's gone away though. I think my tank was overfed too. The water chemistry isn't a perfect gauge because most of the nutrients are being used up by the algae. Basically, if you see algae growth, you can be sure there are nutrients they are utilizing. No test required

 

[Anonymous]

A fighting conch might help with your diatom problem. Of course, your crabs might make a lunch of him.

 

[acasden]

thanks , just does not want to go away, will decrease feeding. On that note do people give coral supplements? there are so many out there I do not know if they are a waste of money or not???

 

[acasden]

Thanks, will try to decrease feeding. On a feeding note do most people add coral food supplements? are they a waste of money ??? I think all it does is make algae worse

 

[mr_X]

i target feed the corals that will eat fleshy foods when i can. i don't add anything to the water column for corals.
misis shrimp, cyclo-peeze...stuff like that. i recently threw a few things from the supermarket seafood department into a food processor, and then froze it, and am feeding that (shrimp, scallops, perch, flounder )to them by hand here and there.

 

[acasden]

I was referring to pods, powders, coral vitamins, oyster eggs, all that expensive stuff that I don't think does anything.

 

[acasden]

I was referring to pods, powders, coral vitamins, oyster eggs, all that expensive stuff that I don't think does anything.

 

[mr_X]

i target feed the corals that will eat fleshy foods when i can. i don't add anything to the water column for corals.
.

 

[brandonberry]

I had this outbreak last week also on a tank I set-up a few months ago. I once heard someone mention that diatom outbreaks can be worse at certain times of the year. Is there any truth to this?