How to keep my sand nice and white?

[lenny8671]

Do any of you guys have a sure way to keep your sand a brillient white. Ive seen in some of your pics that the sand is clean. My tank has been running for about 11 weeks and the sand is getting quite dirty (brown and red algea) i understand that this is part and parcel of the hobby but was wondering if yous have any secrets you can share with me please. :) :) :)

[zach jay]

how large of a cleaning crew do you have?

[seapug]

Pure source water for topoffs/water changes, good circulation in the tank, judicious feeding and stocking, and time. It's often one of those things that eventually disappears on it's own for the most part. Running GFO in a reactor can also limit the silicate and Phosphate that can fuel diatoms and Cyanobacteria films.

[Denbf58]

leave it in the bag ha ha . as your tank matures it will be easy'er with a good cuc

[stuccodude]

sand sifting goby. cool fish that works 24/7

[WaterKeeper]

Is it true LS from the ocean? That is needed to keep things stirred anc clean.

[fishox]

some of your discoloration is probably due to new tank syndrome. The brown may be a result of the typical diatom bloom. Red algae sounds like cyano. the sand is white underneath the sheets of cyano. You need to learn how to treat cyano. That is a topic for another thread. There are thousands of Cyano threads on RC

Once you get through the new tank issues a good clean up crew will keep the sand white provided you do regular maintenance and stay on top of a recurrence of cyano.

[lenny8671]

Thanks guys, i have 4 hermit crabs 2 turbo snails, 20 nassarius snails. Would you recomend any more my tank is 22" cube approx 46 gallons. Not sure if true live sand, it just says coral sand on the bag ???

[heller792]

Blue cheek Goby here, works non stop

[reefworm]

all of the above, and check with these guys for a good clean up crew:
http://reefcleaners.org click on the custom cleanup crew link and follow the instructions - simple, and you'll get great advice in a timely manner

[Playa-1]

This is my little secret :D

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/158898gby81.jpg

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/158898SandBed2.jpg

Gobys are not for everybody, Check out this link:
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2003-09/hcs3/index.php

[Ranchhand02]

Be sure you have plenty of water flow. That will help to keep stuff from settling on the sand bed.

[lenny8671]

Went out today and bought two sand sifting gobys, but sadly one of them died almost straight away, they were both added to the tank correctly, but after phoning the LFS he said it might be shock and asked me what my salinity was (1.026) he went and checked his (1.019) he said i should lower my main tank to .023 and mix a bucket of ro to .021 put the goby in the bucket to bring himup gently then add to my tank later. However he has now passed :-( his friend is doing fine in main tank still.

do you guys agree with LFS or do you think he may be filling me full of bull S***

p.s. this is my first loss in SW

[heller792]

BULL, most reefers keep salinity at 1.026 and if you acclimatised correctly then it shouldnt of killed it. How long did you spend acclimatising and whats your procedure?

[Anemone0524]

Now i'm sad. I read the link here in your post, and I don't think a goby worth the trouble anymore. Before, when I was blissfully ignorant, I was well on my way to gobytown.

but apprently they ravage beneficial bacteria in the sandbed, bury corals, and move rocks. Not worth the trouble, imo.

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14169454#post14169454 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Playa-1
This is my little secret :D

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/158898gby81.jpg

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/158898SandBed2.jpg

Gobys are not for everybody, Check out this link:
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2003-09/hcs3/index.php

[texhorns98]

Not to HJ the thread, but Playa-1...what lights are you running? I love the color in your pics.

[lenny8671]

they were floating in the bag with lisghts off for about 3 hrs adding small amounts of tank water to the bag about every 20 mins. iv eput some pics of him and the rest of my tank in my gallery, ill try to add link on post if it dosnt work please look at him in the gallery.

[Playa-1]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14170859#post14170859 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by texhorns98
Not to HJ the thread, but Playa-1...what lights are you running? I love the color in your pics.

I'm using a Sunpod that came with 14K HQI's.