Want to change sand-put wrong sand in tank

I start a FOWLR tank about 13 months ago. Just put a new Coralife 260 watt PC w/lunar lights over the tank. Nitrates shot up and algae all over the sand (diatom bloom)! After further research on this site, silica in sand is not good. I would like to change as soon as possible but don't know exactly where to start. Please help!

 

What kind of sand do you have now? I've heard mixed things about silica in sand. It may or may not be affecting your tank.

I think the bloom may be just from the intensity of the new lights and should go away with some water changes and time.

Are you doing anything else different that may have caused the nitrates to go up? Miss a water change or feed more lately?

 

I agree with Matt...I would not change the sand yet...it is a major hassle!  The lighting is most likely the culprit. ;D

Welcome to 3 Reef!

 

The type of sand that's in the tank is some of that Quikrete Play Sand from Home Depot. It said that it was 100% silica free, but I have had sudden spikes in nitrate ever since I added this stuff to the tank. I started with CC but that was a major algea problem. So, I removed most of the CC and put in the sand. The sand has been in the tank about seven months. But again only sudden nitrate spikes. We do a 25% water change every two weeks. Any more suggestions?

 

Is it aragonite sand?

I am not familiar with the quickrete...

Does the spike correspond to the water changes at all? Perhaps you could do smaller water changes...like 10% and see if that makes a difference?

 

I didn't think the Quickrete was silica free. There is something called Old Castle Tropical Play Sand available at some Home Depots. It took me 3 weeks to find it and I about cleared them out. There are multiple threads on this subject. Just go to the sand forum.

 

[quote author=minwinn link=board=ASAP;num=1105831256;start=0#3 date=01/16/05 at 02:19:43]The type of sand that's in the tank is some of that Quikrete Play Sand from Home Depot. It said that it was 100% silica free, but I have had sudden spikes in nitrate ever since I added this stuff to the tank. I started with CC but that was a major algea problem. So, I removed most of the CC and put in the sand. The sand has been in the tank about seven months. But again only sudden nitrate spikes. We do a 25% water change every two weeks. Any more suggestions?[/quote]

minwinn

Clean sand will not cause Nitrate spikes. Nitrate is the result of an organic process and sand is inorganic. CC by itself will also not cause algae problems for the same reason.

What is the Nitrate reading?

Also 3inches is not enough for a DSB, if you must have a DSB i suggest you increase the depth to at least 4 inches and I wonder whether this may be the cause of the Nitrate "spikes' you wrote about.

Interesting things diatoms They only need minute amounts of Silica to make their homes. In fact I believe that sometimes when growing Diatoms in the laboratory no Silica is used as there is enough given off by the glass of the test tubes

John

 

[quote author=birdlady link=board=ASAP;num=1105831256;start=0#4 date=01/16/05 at 15:39:58]Is it aragonite sand?

I am not familiar with the quickrete...

Does the spike correspond to the water changes at all?  Perhaps you could do smaller water changes...like 10% and see if that makes a difference?

[/quote]

It is not aragonite sand. The spikes are not consistant with water changes. Nitrate reading between 80 ppm to 160 ppm sometimes. I'm stumped. Nothing seems to be stressed and the only losses I seem to have are snails and hermits.

 

You said you removed most of the CC. What % does most consist of?

 

Quartz sand is not soluble in water at all and quartz is what the quickcrete is probably made out of..the glass your tank is made out of is way way softer than quartz crystals due to additives in glass to make it more workable.i doubt the sand is causing it.If you think it is the sand you might want to get rid of that pesky silica glass.so if quickcrete is not quartz sand (silica sand) what is it made out of is what i would be worried about.

BTW , i am not trying to sound mean.