New sand

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I wouldnt remove/replace any more than 1/4 at a time you may want to test as well because you will stir up a lot of detritus and can/will cause a spike in ammo and nitrAtes On further thought i would do 1/4 then do a 50% water change so maybe 1/4 per week just to be safe.
 
Thank you for the reply. Would it be ok to just siphon the top layer and put a fresh layer over top what's left?
 
Don't know that I should.my tank is almost a year old and it might be a cycle that tanks go through in the first year or so but I've been siphoning algae off the sand every week and still comes right back. I just love clean sand. Been a problem for over a month now. And why not?
 
What kind of algae? This doesn't sound like it's age related, but more like there's been some change in nutrient levels, lighting, or water flow.
 
Looks like diatoms. Diatom blooms can happen at any time, but it usually indicates an excess of silicates, or nutrients. Do you, by any chance, use tap water?
Beautiful lion, btw.
 
Thank you. I do use tap water through a pur water filter. Like I said though, tank is a year old and only had this problem maybe for a month
 
Those filters are good for drinking water, but rather inadequate for reef tanks. If I had to take a guess though, I'd say that your filter needs replacement about a month ago.
 
It has a light that tells me when to change. Green is good, yellow is time to change, and red is bad. Still green. I also add prime with each water change.
 
Those lights measure back pressure, I believe. In which case, failure of the filter would not turn it red. It's a guide, not a rule. Diatoms means silicates, and silicates come from somewhere. This is one of the many reasons most reefers recommend RO water.
 
Got a new filter. I'm doing a 25% water change tomorrow after I siphon the sand. I've been doing smaller more frequent changes like 5% every three days so I'm going back to big changes every weekend. Going on vacation in 2 wks and I would like to have things stable while someone else cares for my fish
 
I used to get diatom blooms at every water change when I used tap water. No more since switching to RO. I don't filter my own, there's a water store in town that is basically $4/25G. I usually grab 4 x 5G containers worth at a time, 5th one is free.

- D
 
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