Does flake food generally also cause algae on sand?

[BryanM]

I'm just curious ... My sand is dirty and I hate it. I can vacuum it, but most often after feeding flake food it gets dirty fairly fast... I only feed once a day, and while I don't know for sure, I do not think I feed heavily.

I'm wondering if the choice of food has anything to do with this... And/or the best way to try and keep that sandbed clean(er).

 

[Nor'easter Reefer]

I'm just curious ... My sand is dirty and I hate it. I can vacuum it, but most often after feeding flake food it gets dirty fairly fast... I only feed once a day, and while I don't know for sure, I do not think I feed heavily.

I'm wondering if the choice of food has anything to do with this... And/or the best way to try and keep that sandbed clean(er).

How old is the tank? Newer tanks have tendencies to grow weird stuff no matter what you do. That said, i have a tiger conch and a fighting conch and they do a decent job sifting my sandbed in addition to my nassarius snails. Not perfectly clean but decent. Another thing to keep in mind, a lot of people's tank pictures(not all, and I can't even confidently say even a majority) are right after a cleaning so that prestine perfectly clean look you see often isn't a true representation of what their tanks normally look like

 

[LiquidSpace]

https://printedreef.com/products/sand-sifter
Try this to clean the sand. I’m half joking but also a little curious.

 

[Nor'easter Reefer]

https://printedreef.com/products/sand-sifter
Try this to clean the sand. I’m half joking but also a little curious.

I had the immediate thought "someone's going to hook that on a drill and blend their tank..."

 

[Fish Fan]

I had the immediate thought "someone's going to hook that on a drill and blend their tank..."

It looks exactly like the paint stirring tool lol!

 

[Nor'easter Reefer]

It looks exactly like the paint stirring tool lol!

That's honestly what I thought it was till I saw it was on printed reef haha.

 

[ajmckay]

https://printedreef.com/products/sand-sifter
Try this to clean the sand. I’m half joking but also a little curious.

Oh my... $36? I'll use one of those wood paint stirrers first... Or a plain stick.

It looks exactly like the paint stirring tool lol!

I think it is... on an acrylic rod. I printed several last year to stir up epoxy resin.