Layer of dust on rock and ground..help or ideas??

So I have a 28g nanocube thats been up and running for 11 months now. A few months ago I had a layer of grey dust (or what looks like it) accumulate on the crushed gravel (floor) and over the live rock. I do a 5 gallon water change every 2 weeks and check my water parameters (nitrates, nitrites, ammonia, buffer, salt level) and they have all been in range. I can't figure out whats causing it or how to get rid of it. I've tried using a turkey baster to blow as much of it off before water changes but that hasn't helped. Has anybody experienced this before or know what it could be from? Any help, tips, ideas, etc would be greatly appreciated. I currently have both fish and coral in it. Thank you!

 

do you have good water flow in that tank? what does it have for filtration? i blow off my rocks at least once a week good with a turkey baster, and the water flow keeps the sediment suspended until it gets sucked into my sump/ filter sock.

 

Its a mixture of things generally called detritus or detrius
it has snail, crab, fish wastes etc and they have all partly decayed to give this grey
powder like substance

it accumulates in areas where it gets trapped and also gets caught up on any micro algaes etc hence the rockwork has a coating of it

so the flow in your aquarium is basically causing this the be collected in certain areas

I find that hovering a syphon over the sand area (not to close as you will get sand) will remove a lot of this grey dust

Steve

 

As stated above, it sounds like you just have some flow issues. A powerhead or two blowing on the problem areas should do the trick. It may make the tank all cloudy at first, but after a few hours (maybe longer..depends..) it should clear up and you should start seeing improvements.

Extra clean up crew members wouldn't hurt either.

Ivan

 

thank you for the quick replies. I have the JBJ nanocube and all its original equipment. Its got the 3 stage filtration system (filter sponge, carbon bag, ceramic rings/bioballs) and 2 filter heads on each side. If my flow isn't good enough, what would you recommend adding or replacing (any specific powerheads?) I will try the syphon and start cleaning the rocks weekly.

 

A couple Koralia 1 powerheads should be more than enough. Start with one..see if it helps..if it's still accumulating add another.

Turkey Bastering/siphoning the rocks every now and then even after the addition of powerheads will still be helpful as the powerheads will not remove everything.

 

i also have this problem but i also have good water flow i cant point my powerheads towards the sand as it blows it round and i end up with a mountain of sand on one side and a glass bottom on the other. I usually just use a gravel vacuum when changing the water