Substrate question

[burblecut]

My Reef tank has been running for about a year and a half now. The Live Rock is 3/4 purple, No algea issues, however I'm having a really hard time keeping my sand clean. When I set the aquarium up, I used about 3" of some fine live reef sand. It's a 72 gallon with a korela 4 & 2. The flow is good.

Over the course of a year I've ran into algea outbreaks, ect..but now my sand seems to be full of dark brown and some purple particles which have literally changed the colour in some areas.

I try to siphon the Diatoms out weekly, but it just doesn't have that nice "white sand beach" colour anymore.

I see some reefers go bare bottom on their tanks, and others have flawless sand or crushed coral with no issues of discolouration. What's the secret? Do you replace the sand after awhile? What seems to be the best substrate?

[Rogue951]

If you're having diatoms maybe you have a bigger problem with excess nutrients. If you can grow some macro algae or setup a refugium.
I think more water flow also helps prevent the algae from growing.

I have an assortment of snails including ceriths and nassarus(detritus eating) snails that like to go in the sand and come out at night. keeps my top later turned up.

[Madreefer]

There are several different "critters or creatures" that you can get to sift or stir up your sandbed to try and keep the clean look. Sea cucumbers, sand sifting starfish, gobies or snails. Do a search and choose one that will be suitable for your tank. But they do eat all of the good organisms in your sand bed as well.

[project37]

I also had a problem with diatoms in my tank about a month ago but was able to resolve the problem using Kent's Phosphate Sponge. It is basically a ceramic medium which first absorbs phosphate and when the phosphate is low it will absorb silica. I used that for 5 days in my canister filter and now I have no more diatoms.

I keep a large Dragon Goby in my tank now as they sift sand like crazy and thus keep the sand nice and white. The only problem with the Dragon Goby is that they will spread sand over the lower areas of you rock but nothing a turkey baster will not cure.

Good luck with your sand cleaning and keep us posted.