What do I do?

[jkhalliday76]

I recently switched out crushed coral for live sand in my 20 gallon tank. I am having issues keeping the sand looking nice. Is it just brown algae? I have to clean my glass every other day. Or is it a bigger problem. I don't have a skimmer (yet), just a power filter. I was told by the LFS that I didn't need any powerheads if I have a filter. Is it a lack of water movement?

Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

 

[Woodstock]

Looks like a diatom bloom. Get a few cerith snails.

 

[dragonladylea]

I would suggest powerheads, skimmer and sandsifting cleanup crew. Pistolshrimp and Gobies also do a great job on keeping the sand mixed!!

Also spagetti worms and Nassarius snails

 

[Kensn]

It might be that when you took out the crushed coral the disturbance of the crushed coral may have released trapped detrus into your water. This could be adding to the problem. Did you notice alot of "dirty water" while you were taking out the crushed coral. I would do a few water changes and run some mechanical filtration for a bit to "polish" the water.

As above posts mentioned some more flow would help, along with some critters..

 

[Woodstock]

Good point ken.

 

[jkhalliday76]

Thanks! I do have 3 nassarius snails and 2 astrea snails right now. The nassarius snails don't seem to do much but bury themselves in the sand and they pretty much stay in one place until I feed my Gramma. Cerith snails would be better??

 

[Gina]

The Nassarius snails will feast on food inside the sand and will come out to feed when they smell food in the water or on the sand bed. This going in and out of the sand bed is what is stirring up the sand. They don't eat deritus off the sand bed though. Cerith snails are supposed to do that and astrea snails are also a good idea.

 

[returnofsid]

Sounds like a typical diatom bloom. By changing out your substrate, you probably not only released a lot of gunk but also restarted your cycle. If it's a typical diatom bloom, it'll settle out as your cycle matures and other forms of algae take over....I hope!! Good luck