About my sand

ok... I have a big question......................


I have a 55g reef and my sand is pink, is that ok or is it slim? Someone told me its slim but i dont want to go putt stuff in my tank with out knowing first you know., i can take a pic of it if i can get a good one. Any know?

Need a picture to know for sure.

Welcome to Living Reefs!!

There not the best pictures cause im using my sidekick LOL but hope it works.

it's cyano bacteria, just not very colorful, lol.

Cyano bacteria is caused by many things, so it's typically a pretty good combo of problems. I typically think of two things.

1. Excess nutrients. This would be caused by overfeeding the tank, failing to do water changes, or having poor protein skimming.

2. Flow. The reason people get the cyano on their sand, as in your case, is that they do not sufficient flow in the tank. This means that when you feed the tank, the food falls to the bottom, breaks down, and creates cyano.

I would say you have both. Get more flow goin' in that tank, it'll help you IMMENSELY! Your livestock will be healthier and happier, and your sand/tank will look cleaner. Not to plug myself, but a couple K4's in that tank would be sweet, and I have a special on them 2 for $80!

But your biggest problem is the nutrients. Watch your feeding, and invest in a protein skimmer (the first time you empty the collection cup you'll wonder how you didn't have one!) and secondly, from looking at your rocks I am assuming you are using tap water, if you plan to have a great looking tank over the long term, invest in an RO/DI unit (going to your LFS is a pain). Tap water has all kinds of gunk which just creates unhealthy water and dirty algae filled tanks) One thing i've learned in this hobby is that NONE of us keep fish and corals, we keep water. Keeping water healty allows corals and fish to live. Easiest way to be successful is to start with great water.

I do have a skimmer. And it's working. I onlt have 1 fish and that a domino. i only have plants that i feed with the dropper every few days.
What is that K4 your talking about? LOL im new to the saltwater and im learning alot reading online and now here...

plants are you talking about corals if so they are not plants they are animals. looks like cyano bacteria to me just a normal part of the tank breaking in. just keep up with water changes and it will go away sometimes it takes a few weeks.

I been doing water changes, now someone told be to use spring water? is that true? i dont add salt at all unless the salt level is down and it's been good so far.

Do not use spring water. If you cannot get your hands on a RO/DI unit, simply buy Distilled water from any store.

I just got over a cyano outbreak. It was caused by the following:
Not changing water frequently
Old bulbs in fixture

Do a water change using Distilled water, then cut the lights for about 4 days. After that do another water change. Keep siphoning out as much of the cyano each time you do a water change. Throw some chaeto in a sump or refugium. That should take care of everything!

Once a week is good for water change? or like every 5 days?

I would say once a week is plenty until you have all of your parameters under control. You should be checking for nitrates, phosphates, etc. as well.

What are the parameters of your water?

my AMMONIA is 0ppm
my NITRATE is 0ppm
my NITRITE is 0ppm
and the pH is 8.4-8.8

chaeck your phosphate

daugherty said:

chaeck your phosphate

Click to expand...

How do i check that? And what is that?

Phosphate is a nutrient and waste by-product that,in small quantities is important to coral health;in higher concentrations,it acts as a crystalline inhibitor to calcification.Normally found only in trace amounts on coral reefs.
Its also a major fuel for problem algae and cyanobacteria.

its probaly still cycling. just wait and try to have some more flow so ur tank can exchange gas and ur protein skimmer can pick up more gunk.