even mmmmooorreeee stuffff !!!

[warr0088]

Sorry to keep doing this to everyone, keep in mind i'm a newbie just figuring everything out! 

So I have this reddish / brown stuff growing on my aragonite ... I figure its just some sort of algae, but i'm not sure how to get rid of it.  Should I get a turkey baster and suction this stuff up?  I was also wondering if I should clean / vaccuum my sandbed - does anyone do this?  Everytime I poke around my sandbed it gets very cloudy very quickly, I wonder if I should take it out and rinse it out in a saltwater mixture?  It is as though it was never rinsed when first bought ... dust everywhere after poking the sandbed.


I was also wondering what this little green ball was ... looks like a pod of somesort, I really have no clue!


Thanks!

[attachment deleted by admin]

[char0434]

i think its just normal algea on your sand bed. and yeah i do clean it with a vacuum.  umthe last picture i could be worng but i think its bubble algea and its bad... anyone else help us out.

Adam

[warr0088]

Actually I kinda hope it is, an excuse to get an emerald crab!  There's only the one bubble in there though, and it's green ... been like that for a while now and hasn't changed / grown / multiplied ...

Anyone else?

I'm more worried about the dust in my sandbed than anything, should I be rinsing this to get the dust out?

[bhotep]

Yup that is definately bubble algae. That brownish powder on your sand is a brown diatom that most of us have gone through in a new tank, give it time, it will go away. Wait till the cyano bacteria starts  .

[warr0088]

hhmmmm, okay, I'm not looking forward to cyano thats for sure!  SO an emerald crab will take care of this?  Should I pop that bubble or remove it - (there's only the one)

[groupie02]

an emerald may eat it if it's not too big and if it's hungry. If you decide to take it out, don't break the bubble so that it doesn't spread.

[BigDaddy]

hhmmmm, okay, I'm not looking forward to cyano thats for sure!  SO an emerald crab will take care of this?  Should I pop that bubble or remove it - (there's only the one)

Do NOT try to pop it.. you'll just spread it everywhere

[angelfreak]

dont get an Emeral Crab yet, your tank is too new. I lost mine

[Faerin]

dont get an Emeral Crab yet, your tank is too new. I lost mine

Agreed, your tank is at least a few weeks/months away from being ready for any kind of livestock. Just pull the bubble algae out by hand (without breaking it). The diatoms will get worse before it gets better, but will eventually fade on it's own. It's part of the natural progression of a reef tank.

[warr0088]

Ok great advice, will do!

Now what should i do about my "dusty" sandbed?  It's pretty bad, I mean I poke it and dust goes everywhere, if I rinse it out w/ saltwater mix in a bucket, will I rinse out my beneficial bacteria?  (It's live sand).  Should I just live with it? 

[Vallely4]

Yup that is definately bubble algae. That brownish powder on your sand is a brown diatom that most of us have gone through in a new tank, give it time, it will go away. Wait till the cyano bacteria starts  .

It was mentioned by bhotep, brown powder on your sandbed/rock is a diatom algae bloom.

I wouldn't recommend rinsing it out/removing it from your tank was it used/?
Some critters will clean that up specifically.

I agree, I though it looked kinda fugly, and dirty when mine showed up. But what im finding worse is mine is still stickin around I notice its collected slighty undernneath/against rock along the sandbed. Ive got tons of flow in my tank [1200gph- 2xKoralia] Don't know how i'm to deal with it. The next couple days im doing another waterchange. I'm going to myself need to vaccuum in lotsa crevices my next waterchange

[beertech]

It's best not to vacuum the substrate,  just leave it and let the cycle take it's course. What you can do now though, is to make sure you have as much flow as possible via powerheads, without creating a sandstorm.  Try different directions and angles with the powerheads. If you have a skimmer, adjust it to maximum without shooting microbubbles into the tank.  Do small, frequent water changes, just removing the water from the top 1/3 of the water column. This is where most contaminants and d.o.c.  hang out. The dust will settle and get sifted into the rocks or places that you can't see it.  Eventually, you can start to add more cleaning crew critters like crabs, snails, cucumbers etc.. and they will take care of the algae. If you really can't stand the algae, and have to remove it, use a very small diameter hose and just suction the very top of the substrate without disturbing it too much.  Don't stress too much about it, it will come and go.

Gord. 

[warr0088]

Thanks again for the advice, although I'm not too concerned about the diatoms/algae at the moment if that is a normal cycle ... it's the dust in my sandbed ... just waned to clarify that.  So if I leave it it will dssipate with time?  Slowly work itsway to places I wont notice? 

I did purchased it "used" or live from another member on the forum ...

[Kemokid]

I'm still a rookie myself but in my opinion, the less you do and the more natural progression the tank takes, the better it must be for the system unless you are dealing with something truly nasty that needs to be stopped. Like you, I got my sand used and it settles well over time and everything worked out. I have to ask what you are doing that is creating the dust storms. I don't need to touch my sand other than to set something on it. I would recommend to just be patient and let it settle out and cycle.

I did have a couple of bubble algeas crop up and one water change I used half inch tubing to drain off some water and I put it directly over and very close to the bubbles then worked them off the rock and scrapped the rock area a bit to remove evrything. I figured from this that not only the bubbles got sucked up but so did any seeds etc. I haven't had any recure since.

One of the biggest tips I found to be valuable from member here is PATIENCE, and it's not always easy but seems almost manditory.
imo
Kevin

[warr0088]

Yah well said ... I visited Ray tonight and he gave me TONS of great advice too (props, haha) ... I won't be playing / turkey basting my sandbed anymore ... lol, take things you read with a grain of salt I suppose ...


Thanks to everyone who responded!