What's the gunk in the overflow and sump?

Pretty much what the title is. What is all the brown gunk that builds up in at the bottom of the sump and on the overflow. I just looked in my overflow for the first time and I was working in my sump and I noticed it. Is there any sort of invert that eats it?

 

got a pic? Could be about anything. Diatoms, other algae, detritus, food, etc

 

I put in a turbo snail for a couple of days here and there into both the sump and overflow and they clean the buildup really well.

 

Heres a pic. It's kind of hard to see. It looks kind of brown and muddy/mucky. I think it might just be detritus build up.

 

I was looking at the same thing in my sump last night. I think it is just left over inert and processed wastes. You could siphon it out of your overflow. Can't siphon it out of the sump because it is on the floor.

 

Would something like a turbo snail eat it?

 

Use a pump to suck it out, that's what I do.

 

Try it, I put a turbo in my overflow and then my sump here and there to clean them out and it works every time.

 

I'm not sure I want to get rid of it in the sump. My water quality is great, so its not a problem, and amphipods are breeding like crazy in that gunk. I looked last night with a flashlight and there are hordes of them.

 

Alot of it is waste, and some of it is the substrate dust sediment. I have the same stuff in my sump and most of it came from when the sand gets stirred up and gets sucked into the sump. I left mine there too. My idea is "if it ain't broke, don't fix it."