3 live sand questions
- Thread starter Flowerkid
- Start date
it needs sufficient water circulation, so the water doesnt go stagnant. how big is the tank? if it is pretty big i doubt 300 gph will sufice.
not sure on the algae
i dont think pods come in live sand, you'd be better off getting some good live rock, or buying pods online. and yes, you can see them. they look like tiny bugs. scared the bejeezies outta me when i saw mine at first.
not sure on the algae
i dont think pods come in live sand, you'd be better off getting some good live rock, or buying pods online. and yes, you can see them. they look like tiny bugs. scared the bejeezies outta me when i saw mine at first.
First does live sand need alot of water circulation? i have 300 gph right now and am getting money to buy another but i was wondering.- It needs some yes, to keep from getting "dead spots" it depends how well the water is moving in your tank, and its dimensions. You should be worried more of keeping the sand stirred, there are some invertibrates that can help you with that, nassarius snails for example.
Second i have tanish algae building up and i dont know what to do.- Tannish red? Might be diatoms. Do you use RO water? How new is the tank, its common to get different types of algae cycles while the tank establishes.
Third i know i am waiting for those pods but how will i know can i see them?- Try looking at night, some people shine a flashlight in there. As long as you have live rock they are most likely in there. Might spot some while watching the tank.
I do have to say though, Live sand is unneccesary to purchase, the sand will become live anyways, itll save you some money not to buy it. A substrate such as Aragonite would be a cheaper and more economical solution.
Second i have tanish algae building up and i dont know what to do.- Tannish red? Might be diatoms. Do you use RO water? How new is the tank, its common to get different types of algae cycles while the tank establishes.
Third i know i am waiting for those pods but how will i know can i see them?- Try looking at night, some people shine a flashlight in there. As long as you have live rock they are most likely in there. Might spot some while watching the tank.
I do have to say though, Live sand is unneccesary to purchase, the sand will become live anyways, itll save you some money not to buy it. A substrate such as Aragonite would be a cheaper and more economical solution.
what are your tank parameters like (ammonia, nitrIte, nitraTe?) Do you have phosphate test avilable (at a lfs?)
By the sounds of it it could be a range of things. Upping the waterflow could help but you have to find the source of the problem (Im going to guess it lies with excess something in the parameters)
Are you using tap water?
By the sounds of it it could be a range of things. Upping the waterflow could help but you have to find the source of the problem (Im going to guess it lies with excess something in the parameters)
Are you using tap water?
Diatoms (brown algae as it is commonly called) is due to nutrients in the water. UNlike green algae, it is not due to excess of NO3 but rather due phosphate (PO4) and to some extent silicate (SiO4).
The only way to get rid of diatoms is to use RO water. I had the same problem in 1st SW tank. I tried everything and nothing worked except RO water. Many of the phosphate guards on the market is useless.
PO4 and SiO4 can also come from the sand you use. Be careful when selecting the sand, especially if you are using play sand.
Rohn
The only way to get rid of diatoms is to use RO water. I had the same problem in 1st SW tank. I tried everything and nothing worked except RO water. Many of the phosphate guards on the market is useless.
PO4 and SiO4 can also come from the sand you use. Be careful when selecting the sand, especially if you are using play sand.
Rohn
First does live sand need alot of water circulation? i have 300 gph right now and am getting money to buy another but i was wondering.<<That's not a lot. I would get more, you need to get pretty brisk circulation to start forcing the water down thro' the sand by moving it quickly across the sands surfce. I don't mean you need the water to be digging holes in the sand>>
Second i have tanish algae building up and i dont know what to do.<<This does sound like diatoms. These are normal if you used tapwater and it has slicate minerals in it(most does). Once these are used up the diatoms die (Malthusian crisis) as they need to the slicate to make silica skeletons. I am not going to say if you should use tapwater or not , as I ,sin of sins, use straight tap in my tank. However if you live in a metro area with skanky water you need to investigat where you can get RO or cheap , purified water. What passes as OK for humans is not always ok for marine aquaria>>
Third i know i am waiting for those pods but how will i know can i see them?
<<The look like little shrimps. But if you got bagged live sand, then you are not likely to get any as live sand is , in all honesty, a terrible trick. It's decent sand, but almost entirely dead, except for a few, and not a very good range of, bacteria. The best way to get pods isto get asmall amount of very good quality live rock.>>
'PO4 and SiO4 can also come from the sand you use. Be careful when selecting the sand, especially if you are using play sand' - while it is technically possible to get PO4 and SiO4 from sands, it is in all honsty really unlikely. If yo get a clean sand it is unlikely to contain any materials to rot out to release silicate SiO4 , and Si=2, which is what quartz sand is made from is near as damn it insoluble (good, otherwise our Si=2 tanks would dissolve). PO4 is not a common component of sands (except in aquaria where it's put there by aquarists and bound to calcaerous materials.....)
Second i have tanish algae building up and i dont know what to do.<<This does sound like diatoms. These are normal if you used tapwater and it has slicate minerals in it(most does). Once these are used up the diatoms die (Malthusian crisis) as they need to the slicate to make silica skeletons. I am not going to say if you should use tapwater or not , as I ,sin of sins, use straight tap in my tank. However if you live in a metro area with skanky water you need to investigat where you can get RO or cheap , purified water. What passes as OK for humans is not always ok for marine aquaria>>
Third i know i am waiting for those pods but how will i know can i see them?
<<The look like little shrimps. But if you got bagged live sand, then you are not likely to get any as live sand is , in all honesty, a terrible trick. It's decent sand, but almost entirely dead, except for a few, and not a very good range of, bacteria. The best way to get pods isto get asmall amount of very good quality live rock.>>
'PO4 and SiO4 can also come from the sand you use. Be careful when selecting the sand, especially if you are using play sand' - while it is technically possible to get PO4 and SiO4 from sands, it is in all honsty really unlikely. If yo get a clean sand it is unlikely to contain any materials to rot out to release silicate SiO4 , and Si=2, which is what quartz sand is made from is near as damn it insoluble (good, otherwise our Si=2 tanks would dissolve). PO4 is not a common component of sands (except in aquaria where it's put there by aquarists and bound to calcaerous materials.....)
Silicate is just another fancy name for sand. But really what is sand?
Sand is simply SiO2, which is silicon dioxide. This is the basic component of san no matter where on earth you obtain the sand.
Meanwhile is silicate is crystallized sand under higher temperature and pressure and thus have 2 extra oxygen molecules, SiO4.
Plankton known as diatoms construct their exoskeleton on these quartz atoms.
Where does PO4 came in to formation diatoms. As we know diatoms (yes they are a type of algae). Diatoms uses PO4 during the photosynthesis as source of food to grow and multiply.
As we can see no amount of washing can actually get rid of SiO4 since they are actually crystalized sand. So our only solution is to cut off their source of food, PO4. Phosphate is polyatomic and thus again can not be removed from the sand by simply washing them since the PO4 ions can combine with Si, Mg, Mn or Cu molecules. The greatest source of Po4 is not really in the actual sand but in the water as they PO4 ions dissolves in the water in varying amount in almost every part of the world since the water is in contant contact/interaction with sand/soil. This is why we use RO water to remove PO4 and thus a great way of preventing the diatom in the silicate from ever becoming active without a food source.
Rohn
Sand is simply SiO2, which is silicon dioxide. This is the basic component of san no matter where on earth you obtain the sand.
Meanwhile is silicate is crystallized sand under higher temperature and pressure and thus have 2 extra oxygen molecules, SiO4.
Plankton known as diatoms construct their exoskeleton on these quartz atoms.
Where does PO4 came in to formation diatoms. As we know diatoms (yes they are a type of algae). Diatoms uses PO4 during the photosynthesis as source of food to grow and multiply.
As we can see no amount of washing can actually get rid of SiO4 since they are actually crystalized sand. So our only solution is to cut off their source of food, PO4. Phosphate is polyatomic and thus again can not be removed from the sand by simply washing them since the PO4 ions can combine with Si, Mg, Mn or Cu molecules. The greatest source of Po4 is not really in the actual sand but in the water as they PO4 ions dissolves in the water in varying amount in almost every part of the world since the water is in contant contact/interaction with sand/soil. This is why we use RO water to remove PO4 and thus a great way of preventing the diatom in the silicate from ever becoming active without a food source.
Rohn
Sand is mineral grains > silt and up to about 4 mm in size.. the word sand is about grain size, not chemistry of the grains. It is entirely possible, common for sands to be made of CaCO3, ground volcanic rocks, whatever. It is NOT necessaily silica.
This link has a little info on silicate Silicate - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. It is worth noting that the form SiO4 is not a single molecule, it is an ion bound to another ion, usually a metal, to forma silicate mineral. Whereas silica, SiO2, is a single molecule and is pretty stable in water (and is the major component of quartz sands) silicates are not necessarilly stable, and this allows organisms such as diatoms to use them. The end product is a stable silica exoskeleton.
So the sand in your tank might be made of silica. It will not be made of pure silicate, though it might contain some silicate minerals. You are equally likely to be introducing silicate (but not silica) by using impure WATER.
The difference between stable silica and unstable silicate is well understood, and is why the fears that using quartz sand in your aquarium will cause diatom blooms are unfounded.
This link has a little info on silicate Silicate - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. It is worth noting that the form SiO4 is not a single molecule, it is an ion bound to another ion, usually a metal, to forma silicate mineral. Whereas silica, SiO2, is a single molecule and is pretty stable in water (and is the major component of quartz sands) silicates are not necessarilly stable, and this allows organisms such as diatoms to use them. The end product is a stable silica exoskeleton.
So the sand in your tank might be made of silica. It will not be made of pure silicate, though it might contain some silicate minerals. You are equally likely to be introducing silicate (but not silica) by using impure WATER.
The difference between stable silica and unstable silicate is well understood, and is why the fears that using quartz sand in your aquarium will cause diatom blooms are unfounded.
RO water is just Reverse Osmosis water (a highly filtered water that is is 99% clean of all inpurities)
It is not a must to run a thriving tank but it is very much prefered over regular tap as tap can (as you can see above) cause many unneccessary problems with algae and other things (in some cases can contain abnormal amount of nitrate for example)
It is not a must to run a thriving tank but it is very much prefered over regular tap as tap can (as you can see above) cause many unneccessary problems with algae and other things (in some cases can contain abnormal amount of nitrate for example)
you have to purchase a RO or RO/DI unit.
Reverse Osmosis (RO) & Reverse Osmosis/Deionization System - Marine Depot - Marine and Reef Aquarium Super Store
or some lfs sell it but much more cost effective to purchase one
Reverse Osmosis (RO) & Reverse Osmosis/Deionization System - Marine Depot - Marine and Reef Aquarium Super Store
or some lfs sell it but much more cost effective to purchase one
