keeping SB clean

[brettz16]

So my tank is now 5 months old and I'm still having a slight issue with keeping the sand bed clean. There is a "slimy" layer on top that i can basically peel away. Its a little red/green, but i don't think is cynoa since its thicker and stays together. Every now and then il stir up the SB only to find it dirty again about 1.5 weeks later.

I use R/O water at 5ppm
10% WC every 2 weeks
40ml of Vinegar daily
150 snails, 20-30 red legs/ blue legs
Refugium with 4" sand 8 mangroves, cheato
(I did just add another mp10)-before i just had one mp10 and a koralia 750

PH 7.9-8.2
Nitrate .20ppm
mg ?
Cal 450
Alk 8.5
Po4 <.20ppm (API hard to tell)

Should i siphon out the top layer of sand and add new sand? try a goby? Was there not enough flow before?

This is 3-4 weeks untouched
View attachment 12003
View attachment 12004

 

[tinman]

may be the snails that dig in and out of the sand bed would help with this issue ..
deng it ! their name isnt comming out right now

 

[frostyjay1]

nassarius snails are what tin is thinking of. they do a good job, or a sand sifting star fish. that looks like diatom bloom to me, which seems to happen around this stage in the tank running. just keep up on what your doing and it will go away. also cutting down your light time for a bit may help

 

[Triggerdood]

RO at 5 ppm? TDS? Nassarius snails.

 

[jklyczek]

I had the same issue for months. I added nassarius snails, sand sifting star, and babylonia snails. All the nassarius' were eaten by my **** seagrass wrasse (if I can ever catch him/someone has a fish trap I will gift the bastard to you). I grabbed a diamond goby and he cleaned it up in a week. Best purchase I ever made. Just make sure you have a screen top, talk to goat and he can send you the best screen ever.

 

[MrDemonicAngel]

diamond goby helps tremendously...but only to keep it maintained....you'll need to first clean it out yourself...

 

[Jep21]

i say get some snails, gobies, shrimps, and starfish and u will be ok.. maybe add a little more flow to the area

 

[yogoshio]

Sand sifters need a ton of food, so if you get one, get a small one.

 

[brettz16]

RO at 5 ppm? TDS? Nassarius snails.

yes?

I had the same issue for months. I added nassarius snails, sand sifting star, and babylonia snails. All the nassarius' were eaten by my **** seagrass wrasse (if I can ever catch him/someone has a fish trap I will gift the bastard to you). I grabbed a diamond goby and he cleaned it up in a week. Best purchase I ever made. Just make sure you have a screen top, talk to goat and he can send you the best screen ever.

I already have about 150 nassarius's. They dig into the sand but don't help much with cleaning.
I do want to add a goby, but didn't realize they jump. I would love to avoid adding a mesh top as i fell it defeats the purpose of a rimless. Il try a sand sifting star and maybe a goby soon.
I fell my flow is good considering a 45x turn over rate with random flow.

 

[Smitty]

What type of lighting do you have? Maybe the bulbs need to be changed...unless you already have leds.

 

[brettz16]

What type of lighting do you have? Maybe the bulbs need to be changed...unless you already have leds.

I have the Gamma. all 4 t5's are less than 3 months old