Black crap on my sand!

That's interesting. So you cut back on water changes? Humm. I recently put some cheato in my sump. Maybe that will help a little. It just went away? That sure would be nice! My problem is that if I keep scooping it out I'll have no sand left.

BTW I love your signature. I've been known to make things unrepairable!

Thanks for the post.
 
I used a net to scoop it out. Tried to sift as much sand back in while not making a total mess. Was a big pain in the ass. Contrary to what many people say I think some of us get so excited with our tanks that we F@&k with them to much. I know I have and still do on occasion. Short of ripping your tank apart and going sand less, which is a option but I personally dont like, let nature take its course. I swear by Cheato and will never run a tank without it again. Sometimes you have to go all eastern philosophy "less is more" Just my :twocents:
 
Been there and came to the same realization about doing too much to the tank. It the inherent male need to do something, anything I think. One of the things I enjoy about the hobby is the hands on part. Too much so it seems.

As much as it pains me ill try to keep my hands off for a while. Gotta post a sign that says "only feed and empty the skimmer cup!" and put it in front of the tank.
 
I have an idea. Put a jar next to the tank, and every time you mess with it you have to put a dollar in. When your black gunk goes away, use the money to get yourself a new coral or fish. :)
 
I started my tank about the same time as yours and its a 90 also and I had the same thing. I've heard a lot of people on a local forum saying that rod's food is bad at causing algae. I used it for a while and had problems with algae. After hearing that i stopped using it and it didn't grow anymore or as fast. did a couple of WC and siphoned out all I could and added some cheato in a breeder cage then did a 3 day lights off and it cleared it up pretty good (knock of wood) hasnt came back yet. Hope this helps but changing your food might clear it up.
 
Bifferwine said:
I have an idea. Put a jar next to the tank, and every time you mess with it you have to put a dollar in. When your black gunk goes away, use the money to get yourself a new coral or fish. :)
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But that would encourage him to mess with it every time. How about put a jar by the tank and every time you want to mess with it but don't, reward yourself by putting a dollar in the jar - then you'll have a lot of money in the jar to spend on a new coral or fish!
 
WOW!!! That is absolutely the opposite of what I heard about Rod's. It is supposed to be the best out there. I wonder, I still have a Sally's Multi pack. I think I'll swap back to it when I feed. What are you folks feeding?
 
FishyReef said:
But that would encourage him to mess with it every time. How about put a jar by the tank and every time you want to mess with it but don't, reward yourself by putting a dollar in the jar - then you'll have a lot of money in the jar to spend on a new coral or fish!
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Okay maybe other people aren't as stingy as me. :mrgreen: I don't like spending money!
 
Money for tank supplies/inhabitants as a reward won't work. At least for me. I'm maxed out on fish and I don't want to add corals until I can see if the ones I have will grow. If they do, I should have enough to frag off to fill my tank!

Humm.....maybe another tank........naw, my wife would KILL me. (She had a cow when she found out how much I had in the tank 6 months ago! I don't keep records on that subject anymore.)
 
That's pretty strange. I've had 4 or 5 guys tell me they had issues with there tanks when they were feeding with rod's. I'm using 1/2 cube of San fransico mysis shrimp to feed pair of clowns and 6-line and feed a couple of the better zoas. And then once a week I'll do a whole cube to really spot feed the coral. It just shows how everybodys tank is different and unique.
 
I have a idea.. since you are still married. Put a token in the jar every time you get your hands wet. When you have 10 tokens you have to take the wife to see a chick flick. That will cure ya......:D
 
I figured when I got divorced two years ago that at least no more chick flicks. Then my 16 year old daughter says daddy can you take me to see blue moon on opening night...:frustrat: Yes this guy is wrapped around her little finger, its just the way it was meant to be.
 
Well something has changed. Its for the better too! The Black crap is going away!!!!! Right now it looks like a light dusting of diatoms or something is on the sand. He is what are recent "changes":

Added the Sea Hare. Not sure this is helping, and he is going back to the LFS next week.

Did a big clean up of the stuff 2 days ago. Netted it and took out the gunk and whatever sand came with it.

Ran Fuge lights for 48 hours straight. They are now back on an opposite schedule from the DT.

Did NOT do my weekly water change.

Stopped feeding Rod's and went back with the San Francisco Bay cubes.

Added the SSS. Though I haven't seen it in 2 days, I do see when it has burrowed into the sand in various locations.

Cleaned all three power heads.

Kept my hands, and everything else, out of the tank.

Everything looks great except for my Torch coral and my green stripped mushrooms. The Torch doesn't look bad, but it is nowhere near as extended as it was before. The colour is much brighter green, just not as extended. The Mushrooms are not fully inflated either. They were never moved from the day they were put into the tank. That is until I did the cleanup of the sand. They are no longer in that exact position and I think they don't like being a few inches off of that spot. I may wait and see how they respond.

I just remembered that I also removed my Phosban reactor.
 
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One drawback is that I am getting a LOT of film on the glass and on my power heads. There has to be a happy medium in here somewhere. I'm not going to hunt for it yet. I'm going to let things settle a little first.

I installed a Hydor controller to day. I hesitate to call it a wave maker. It was a birthday gift from my sister. Have it on my 2 750s right now on/off for 5 seconds.
 
I think you have turned the corner on it. Remember nothing good in this hobby happens fast.
 
Nonfamous said:
No ideas huh? Well I cleaned it up the best I could and put a filter sock on. I'll let it run for a few days and see what I get. At this rate I'm going to have to put in some new sand.
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I have the same thing , I think mine is caused by nitrates how high are yours , mine were up in the 40 's but since cutting down on the food and buying No3: Po4-X nitrates are reducing and so is the black algae
algy1943( Allen)
 
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