what is this red gunk on my sand?

[project5k]

ok, so i think someone told me that this is diatom or something... anyway, i took a couple pictures....

the red stuff is reaching down into the sand, and has air bubbles trapped under the sand where there were none before...

this happened the first time i set up this tank, and now its happeneing again after stirring up the tank pretty good re-arranging the rocks....

what is it, what causes it, and what can i do to make it go away?

 

[parrotchute]

Looks like cyano to me..
Decrease nutrients, maybe get some nass snails to keep it stirred, macroalgae in the sump to outcompete it in nutrients.

 

[lilyicu]

I siphon and turn my sand bed with every water change it really helps keep all the algae to a minimum.

 

[ndepratt]

awfully light to be cyano.... i definitely would get rid of the diatom idea.

how's your TDS reading ;)

 

[dcantucson]

Is it in the sand or on the glass below the sand?

 

[project5k]

ok, let me try and reply in order here...
Parrott: i have some nassarious snails, and they dont get on the sand, they stay on the rocks and glass.. at least for the most part...

Lily: i thought that was considered a bad idea, cause it messed up the anarobic part of the bio filtration?

NDE: i have no idea what the TDS readings are, i havent gotten a meter yet, but i would think that it would be pretty high with all that salt mixed into the water :)

Dcan: it appears that its on the surface of the sand throughout the tank, and then when it finds the glass it goes deeper, and some of it does infact stick to the glass below the sand, but most of it is in the sand.

 

[Hornet]

ok, let me try and reply in order here...
Parrott: i have some nassarious snails, and they dont get on the sand, they stay on the rocks and glass.. at least for the most part...

You sure those are Nassarius Snails that you have? My nassarius snails live in the sand and come to life as soon as I put food in the tank. I rarely ever see mine on the rocks and glass. Kinda cool to watch them rise from the sand like zombies from the grave.

 

[sen5241b]

I have exactly the same thing and I do 3 things to get rid of it. 1-Get 'trates down to zero, 2-no sunlight (direct or indirect) on tank & 3-deep stir the sand one small section every few days. MY nassarius snails did little or nothing to solve this problem.

 

[lilyicu]

Sifting up your sand bed is actually not a bad idea. The bubbles that are under there are gasses that are formed when your wastes start to break down. They will continue to build up. I stir up my sand bed before my water changes so that I can suck out everything that I stirred up.

 

[Hornet]

Nas. snails don't eat the algae. I'm also in question of how useful they are for stirring the sand. Not like I see mine plowing through the sand bed. They just dig down into the sand and wait for the next whiff of food. They are great for sucking up extra food from feedings so that helps control the excess nutrients that feed the algae growth.

 

[dcantucson]

project, How long has it been there? Is it spreading or staying about the same?

 

[project5k]

ok, yea, that picture is definately not what i have, and funny enough, in that picture it looks like he is on what i have in my tank...

the water readings are as low as my eyes, and test kits can show.. , no sunlight, i should stir the sand then.. hmm ok,

i stir the top half or so when i do my water changes, but i allways try and not go too deep.. someone once told me it was a bad idea...

sounds like if they stir up the sand at all then i should get some cause thats gotta be in my benifit...

it started off on one end of the tank, mostely around the bottoms of the rocks, and then when the lights are on it gets thicker and spreads, and then overnight with the lights off it gets thinner if not almost dissappears...

I have reduced my lighting duration and it didnt seem to help, it started like a week ago, and slowly has built up... its just about across the entire bottom of the tank now. I've also reduced the feedings to the point i'm afraid that the fish are starving and this stuff is still there....

 

[daugherty]

it looks like diatoms and there is nothing you can do about it they use silicate as food so as soon as they have depleted the silicate in the tank they will disappear

 

[project5k]

well then thats what caused it.. i was ignorant and started this tank with tap water, so stirring up the sand so much must have released some that was trapped in the sand... and BLOOM they came back.. ok... and does it follow that they are light sensitive?

 

[project5k]

has anyone had any luck with
CERITH SNAIL
Family Cerithiidae (CERITHS)
Cerithium strercusmuscarum

i'm reading on several other sites where these are supposed to be really good at keeping the diatoms under control...

opinions? input? experience?

hmm wonder if my lfs even has them...

 

[project5k]

i was reading this article... it said that there is some silicate removing media out there, any idea what and where i could get it?

References - Diatoms

 

[yote]

I've got some where between 20 to 30 cerith snails in my 125.
They'll dig down in the sand,crawl over the rock,up the glass,anywhere theres algae.And they do a decent job of keeping it cleaned up.

 

[project5k]

ok cool, that makes me feel better.. i'll swing by the lfs this weekend then and see if they have them.

 

[madlynb]

How do you go about to stir the sand without ruining the bio filtration? I always thought that was bad to do.

 

[project5k]

well after doing some research, i think what i have is called a turban snail, kinda like an astrea but mine arent colored, thier all tan-white.

so... now i'm on the lookout for some nass and cerith snails, and maybe a shrimp or something...