sand storm

[kellane1]

Hi all
Thank you all for your advice since i have set up my tank.
I finally decided to get rid of the coral, shell substrate and replace it with sand, as you can all imagine in a 6ft tank that holds a 1000litres, that it is not a small job.
I am very happy with the finished product and have only one concern, the sand is very fine, probably the same texture of icing sugar, and some time during the night one of my pumps slid down the inside of the tank and preceded to blow a jet of water into the sand at 1200 litres per hour as you can imagine i was not impressed when i got out of bed, checked the tank, (first thing i do every morning) and could not see an inch into the glass.. I think my fish may still have sore eyes lol..
OK question, tank is now beautifully clear, do i need to be concerned about how the fine the sand is and do i need to replace it with a courser sand.. and all my really cool green algae has died off, and is now just starting to come back, This is not due to the sand storm as it happened before i changed the substrate, is this normal for a just cycled tank, as i thought i went through different cycles of algae until i got the good green stuff
and then i thought it just stayed?
anyway thank you all in advance and i hope you can help
kindest regards kell

 

[Biggen]

The sand will settle on its own. Actually once the tank becomes fully cycled, bacteria will settle on the sand and actually help weigh it down. You will be suprised how little the sand will actually move in a cycled tank (except for when a falling PH hits it... ).

and all my really cool green algae has died off, and is now just starting to come back, This is not due to the sand storm as it happened before i changed the substrate, is this normal for a just cycled tank,

Are you talking about hair algae? If so, then yes this is normal for a just cycled tank. What type of water are you using?

 

[kellane1]

water

umm the algae is a really dark green flat stuff, started off in small circles on the glass and just spread, i think it is the good stuff
The watyer i am using is collected from my local boat ramp in 200ltr drums i then let it condition for approx 3 weeks and then use it.
regards kell

 

[fishfreek]

That algae is coraline algae. Dont worry about it dieing off. Infact in a little while you will probably be cursing the stuff as it constantly attempts to cover your glass.

any sand will cause the net effect of a sand storm when a high power powerhead hits it. About the only thing you can do is make sure the powerhead is firmly attached and ancored to the tank so it does not fall repeadely.