Red/Brown Buildup in Sand

[BASVillanova]

I have brown/red build up in my sand. I have plenty of flow and nitrates and phosphates are at good levels. I have been adding Microbacter 7 for a week now to no avail. I also tried Chemiclean and that did not work either. I have included a photo below. Are these diatoms or detritus or something else?

 

[Fish Fan]

If you have measurable nitrate and phosphate, and Chemiclean was ineffective, then I think likely they are diatoms, which usually just run their course in new tank.

 

[BASVillanova]

If you have measurable nitrate and phosphate, and Chemiclean was ineffective, then I think likely they are diatoms, which usually just run their course in new tank.

The tank is not that new (1 year old) though, and the sand has been like this for a few months.

 

[zbrusko]

If you have measurable nitrate and phosphate, and Chemiclean was ineffective, then I think likely they are diatoms, which usually just run their course in new tank.

The tank is not that new (1 year old) though, and the sand has been like this for a few months.

Does it go away at night? I have a similar situation, and I think it may be dinos.

 

[Fish Fan]

The tank is not that new (1 year old) though, and the sand has been like this for a few months.

Then you may well be looking at Dinos, which can be more difficult to beat back

 

[BASVillanova]

Does it go away at night? I have a similar situation, and I think it may be dinos.

It does seem to go away at night, but I assumed it is just the lack of light.

 

[BASVillanova]

It does seem to go away at night, but I assumed it is just the lack of light.

Meaning I thought I just couldn’t see them as well.

 

[zbrusko]

I think its dinos. Sounds exactly like mine.

 

[Tahoe61]

Have you added any new equipment?

 

[BASVillanova]

I recently cleaned my pentair UV filter and that seems to be working to a limited extent. I think I am going to try adding the extra Aqua 15 watt hang on UV filter I have for a few days to see if that helps as well. I am also going to start manually removing the brown areas and continue adding Microbacter 7 daily. Given that my nitrates and phosphates are not at 0 levels, those steps seem to be what most people are recommending online. If the above doesn’t work, I may try a 3 day blackout period, but I hope to avoid that step if possible so as to limit harming any coral that may be sensitive to that measure. Any additional thoughts are most welcome. Thank you!

 

[jimmypencil]

Ever figure it out?