Sand Bed Help

Michael Gentile

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I have been having to suck more and more sand out weekly due to a ton of algae growing on it. It has now become super thin. With algae still growing on it I was going to just remove as much as possible and replace it. I wasn't sure what the best process for this would be. The tank is a 5-6 years old and has been through many crashes and restarts. I also wanted to know what the best sand would be, the sand i have now is super fine and I can't crank the pumps up because it will blow all over. I also need sand because I have a couple critters who live in it/need it. Any tips would be appreciated. I was assuming suck the sand out and dump the water from the bucket back in, repeat until all gone. Then lower the water level and place the new sand.
 

jgirardnrg

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What kind of algae? There are other methods of getting rid of most algae rather than removing your sand.

I use Caribsea Ocean Direct live sand in my tanks. Seems to stay put for the most part.
 
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Michael Gentile

Michael Gentile

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What kind of algae? There are other methods of getting rid of most algae rather than removing your sand.

I use Caribsea Ocean Direct live sand in my tanks. Seems to stay put for the most part.
Lots of Red slime, and some type of brownish algae that has long pieces that go up into the water column.
 

Poof No Eyebrows

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Find stability and your sand problem will go away. As to size, I run deep sand beds with gyres at pretty high speeds and use Carib sea. It’s more about how you are directing the water flow in my opinion. I have also noticed that if you go for a more “confused” water column where the currents are battling each other there’s less sand drift.
 
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Michael Gentile

Michael Gentile

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Find stability and your sand problem will go away. As to size, I run deep sand beds with gyres at pretty high speeds and use Carib sea. It’s more about how you are directing the water flow in my opinion. I have also noticed that if you go for a more “confused” water column where the currents are battling each other there’s less sand drift.
I have been at it for some months now, my bed is just so thin because i have to keep sucking it out, thought it may be better to try some new sand
 

Poof No Eyebrows

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I have been at it for some months now, my bed is just so thin because i have to keep sucking it out, thought it may be better to try some new sand
I don’t see why you could just add new sand on top. I’ve done it a few times with no ill consequences except the initial new sand snow globe effect.
 

BostonReefer300

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As I'm sure you know, your algae issues will keep coming back unless you figure out how to get your nutrient levels down to reasonable levels. Anyway, that's a whole separate topic. I use carib sea aragonite dry special grade. You have to rinse the heck out of it, but then it's great---perfect grain size that is suitably small for all sand dwellers and sifters, but big enough that it doesn't get blown around.
 
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Michael Gentile

Michael Gentile

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As I'm sure you know, your algae issues will keep coming back unless you figure out how to get your nutrient levels down to reasonable levels. Anyway, that's a whole separate topic. I use carib sea aragonite dry special grade. You have to rinse the heck out of it, but then it's great---perfect grain size that is suitably small for all sand dwellers and sifters, but big enough that it doesn't get blown around.
Yeah i know my levels always come first, life changes hurt my maintenance schedule and threw everything out of wack. Almost back to normal now, just trying to do what I can to make everything easier and better!
 

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