not good!

[kurens]

hey guys.
got my tank running almost 2 weeks now and yesterday i find some black spots near my front glass in/on sand.after check it today i can smell "rotten eggs" on my fingers:embarassed:... i know it doesnt sound good.should i get some cleanup crew to stir up my sand?closed loop is 24/7 with around -3000gph pushing so i think there is enough circulation in tank.sand bed is no more than 3"
need some advice.thanks

 

[lunacris]

hmm in ur tank odd new one too me interested to see what comes from this one hope nothing bad

 

[poidog]

It's still cycling. Leave it alone for 2 more weeks and ask then if it still stinks.

 

[lunacris]

whats the black marks tho i always got the brown algae growth but never smelled like easter

 

[ColaAddict]

I agree about leaving it alone. Atleast it's getting warm out, so you can open some windows

 

[kurens]

water isnt stink overall,only when i touched this black spots on sandi can smell rotten.will try to post pic later.

 

[ColaAddict]

I'm sure those are either bacteria stuff or algae, which are all fine.

 

[scotty]

have anything out of your tank long enough, you'll get that smell. i smelled up the entire basement this week for a couple days just having my rock out from the move. I agree with the wait and see, they might be a snail, or some worms, or just starting of some algae, which also smells like death out of the water.

 

[Lil BamBam]

Was this new sand or that live sand?

 

[kurens]

dry sand

 

[Lil BamBam]

Than this is new to me... Im tagging along

 

[Pufferpunk]

Do you have any sand stirrers in there? Have you seeded the sand with some from an established tank?

 

[kurens]

nope and nopewhich are good stirrers?

 

[Pufferpunk]

My 1st most important maid for vacuuming the sand is a cucumber. Then there are nassarius snails for below the sand & all the little tiny inverts that you get by seeding the sand: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/livesand.htm

 

[lunacris]

i have three sand sifter starfish not the best looking stars but they do there job i also just bought some snails the ones with the little antena looking thing think they are nasrius snails not sure

 

[scotty]

the nassarius are good for the first couple inches, and honestly my worms do more airation than anything else in the tank. +1 for seeded inverts, all the creepy crawlies do a decent job.

 

[kurens]

looks like its getting worse...

 

[jcarlilesiu]

I think the lack of a finished cycle and lack of sand sifters is the issue here.

I wouldn't however be concerned with it. I would suggest getting the cycle complete, and getting a good CUC in there to move some of that sand around and get everything going.

There is going to be all kinds of nasties, smells, and other stuff coming out of your tank until you get it all established and minimally matured.

 

[Pufferpunk]

Do you have any fish in there? If not, give it a good stirring, to release the sulfates you're smelling. You need to seed that bed with beneficial creatures that will aerate & turn it over.

 

[scotty]

It very well could be hydrogen sulfide buildup. It looks like you have very fine sand grains that make up your sand bed. There might not be proper water movement through the bed and over the surface.

did a google of black in reef sand bed.