Keeping Sand Looking Nice

Hey all...so I have been battling this issue for...well forever. Anyways, my tank has a few inches of sand and once and a while I have been scraping the top layer off and adding new "clean" live sand...but eventually it turns green. I think that most of the layers of sand are filled with green goodness. Is there anything I can do without disturbing my tank as a whole... live filtration u know

 

my diamond goby sifts all day long and my sand is in prestine condition

 

My watchman tries his very hardest but...hes not such a good gardener hah. I remember when I first got my tank (almost no rocks, just sand) I had a horseshoe crab...he did a good job of cleaning the sand.

 

If I read your post and understood it correctly ? Its sounds to me that your sand has become a nutrient sink if you have green grass growing on it. I have never heard of anyone removing a top layer and replacing it before. What are the phosphate levels and what type sand did you use

 

Yeah... You got that algae feeding off something in there...silicates, nitrates, phosphates.

 

you could try some snails. i just bought some snails from this guy he breeds them extremely cheap like 80% of retail. eBay Seller: tidewater tackle: Pet Supplies, Home Garden items on eBay.com

 

It definately sounds like a something in your water is high (phos, nitrates). What kind of flow do you have going on? Algae likes to grow in low flow areas.

 

I orgionally thought it was phosphate but I got buffers and sponges and such and it does seem to be getting better but I was just wondering if anyone else has trouble with their sand just kinda turning green.

 

I was having a terrible time with my sand. I had a ton of flow on the top levels of my tank and almost no flow on the bottom. I changed around my pumps and the problem eased up a bit but was not gone completely. Then I looked into sand stirrers. Got 2 horseshoe crabs and 30 Nassarius snails along with adding some extra hermits. I have no noticable algae on my sand anymore. Compare your clean up crew with some of the other reefers here. If your problem was the same as mine, I'd bet your clean up crew is a bit light.

 

If you have green algea all over the place, you are going to need to check the phosphate and silicate lavels. Algea needs nutrients to grow if you haven't got yourself a phosphate test kit do it. Also what are your water parameters. How long has the tank been up. Large clean up crew might help your problem out but that is only a temporary fix. The algea will always haunt your tank.