Sifting Sand

[BrandonS]

I got a bad case of hair algae. I took all the rocks out and brushed them off with a tooth brush pretty thoroughly. I had algae on my sand and scooped around with my hand but couldn't get it all out because it broke up.

Is there any way to sift the sand?

[faulkincanyon]

I used mexican turbo snails and my algae was gone in 3 days...then took them back to the LFS..worked for me

[Grins]

Is there any way to sift the sand? [/B]

Snails are good for that. Read up on the different kinds to match the algea you wish to fight.

[drummereef]

There's obviously a nutrient problem and possible flow issues. It's going to come back unless the nutrients are eliminated. I would look into your nitrates, phosphates, and water source and determine where they are coming from. ;)

[BrandonS]

well i put the fish into my QT tank for now until I get the main tank cleaned up and all the rocks put where I want them. I think it's nutrients because my flow is fine. The algae was actually growing the best where there was flow.

I'm thinking phosphates because I've never seen the nitrates go above 10.

I do need to get snails. I only counted like 2-3 when I was taking all the rock out and scrubbing it off.

[papagimp]

BrandonS, by taking the fish out, you removed the bioload in the tank....eventually the hair algae is going to use up all that nutritents from the bioload that was there, then die off, then you'll add the fish back, more bioload, hair algae may come back again. You should be testing for phosphates as often as you are testing for nitrates IMO. Get rid of the problem not just the symptoms.

[papagimp]

oh yeah, for sifting sand, look into some nassarius snails and possibly a fighting conch....maybe a queen if you feel up to target feeding alarge specimen later on.

[drummereef]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10246047#post10246047 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by BrandonS
well i put the fish into my QT tank for now until I get the main tank cleaned up and all the rocks put where I want them. I think it's nutrients because my flow is fine. The algae was actually growing the best where there was flow.

I'm thinking phosphates because I've never seen the nitrates go above 10.

I do need to get snails. I only counted like 2-3 when I was taking all the rock out and scrubbing it off.

Do you use RO/DI or Tap water, Brandon?

[erbio]

Id recommend a sump and some macro algae to consume phos and other nutrients.

[BrandonS]

I have a sump as of now. For water I'm using DI from the fish store. I can't get an RO/DI, I don't think housing would allow me to use that much extra water.

Also I don't see much point in testing for phosphates. From what I've read on here everytime somebody tests for them they don't get any because the algae eats it as fast as it enters the system.

[papagimp]

Brandon....what about when you do not have any algae problems but you still have phosphate problems....If you are not testing for it at least occasionally, you could end up with far worse problems than a little algae in the tank. I've got problems going on with my 55g right now. Ammonia, nitrite running about 0.5ppm, and nitrates are running 160+ppm, while posphates are probably sitting around 2ppm. By all accounts this tank should be dead and look horrible. No nuisance algae at all...well, a tad green on the back glass, but taht's been there for the last two years even when the tank was optimal. (not saying this will happen to you, just that you never now unless you test, waiting for algae to pop up isn't neccessarily going to let you know there are phsophates in the water or not.)