Variety of nuiscences, what to do?

Reefer Dan

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I’ve been trying to figure out how to approach making my sand/tank looking better overall. I know bone-white sand is an unrealistic expectation. Any idea how to better control all this? Tank has been running about 14 months.. light on corals (planning to add a lot more soon). I’ve been having to dose ~0.75 ppm sodium nitrate and 0.6 ppm trisodium phosphate daily to maintain parameters. I’m trying to figure out what to attack first, any insights would be helpful.

I feel like I have a lot of flow: 2 Nero 5 at 75% + return pump.
Tank : 83 gallons total (reefer 350 + sump)
salinity: 35ppt
PH 8.1-8.3
Temp: 76-77F
Nitrate: 5.5 ppm
Phosphate 0.04 ppm
via microscope ID I’ve seen:
Amphidinium Dino’s
Diatoms
Green cyano
Red cyano
chrysophytes

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Reefer Dan

Reefer Dan

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I forgot to mention that the tank is about 14 months old so I don’t think this is the “ugly phase”.
 

brandon429

why did you put a reef in that
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Removed option.
 
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TokenReefer

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Tank looks good. I think if it were me I'd add a ph in the lower left side to put some flow across the sand and front rock faces and see if that does anything. Just my thoughts... Good luck!
 
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Reefer Dan

Reefer Dan

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This will be a ten hour job unfortunately

this is the price of keeping deep sand beds in large tanks

you may want to consider not putting sand back in the tank or this will repeat by 2025. Sandbeds do not eat up waste and transform it into harmless minerals, they simply store waste and fuel massive invasions. Many folks use animals to turn over sand, a diamond goby for example, to prevent the sand from impacting with waste like the picture shows above

but don’t do that here in the dirty condition. Only do it after your rip clean. Don’t try and avoid the ten hour rip clean job, you must begin that way if you want this tank fixed. A diamond goby will spread that waste all over your tank, rip clean it.


your sand bed is blackened with waste. If you choose the passive route, expect total tank crashes and or continued invasions in the coming months. Your sandbed is in a condition called the eutrophic state; this is a reef killing state. Matter of time unless you take it to the dentist. Notice how recommendations for action on your tank don’t come with a work thread link showing a fix across six other tanks? That’s a guess, you’ll be guessing with your four thousand dollar setup. Our way is certain, see the results

identification of the cells in your invasion make no difference, this is an action need on your part. ID doesn’t help to make a plan at all, what your pic shows above creates the plan. You must disassemble and clean the reef but as you can see plainly, it’s not harmful it’s just ten hours of work and probably half that, five straight hours, is sand bed rinsing in tap water. For five hours, that’s how much waste is impacted. That color of waste can easily by sulfide pockets that kill your setup if you alter this plan, by working without disassembly.

here’s another article solely directed at your tanks condition, old tank syndrome:

notice how each work thread has multiple examples of fixes and they are all ran the same way.
I’m sorry Brandon but this seems a little extreme/dramatic to me— a eutrophic state, meaning my tank is on the precipice of a crash all because I have some cyano mats, diatoms, and chrysophytes? Most of these are non-toxic with the exception of cyano having the possibility…I don’t have a DSB, it is 1-1.5” max and I’m not afraid to do some hard work to make it better, hence I am asking.

Tank looks good. I think if it were me I'd add a ph in the lower left side to put some flow across the sand and front rock faces and see if that does anything. Just my thoughts... Good luck!
I’ve been debating on trying this. Do you think a pump would be better on the lower left side or in the back by the overflow blowing toward the cyano area?
 

TokenReefer

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I’ve been debating on trying this. Do you think a pump would be better on the lower left side or in the back by the overflow blowing toward the cyano area?
Hmmm. I can't quite see the left side completely.. but I think in front of the rocks on the lower left. You have a better perspective from your angle ;) but yeah toward the cyano.. would be my first move
 

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