Sand stiring

[JumperAlex]

About every 5 to 7 days I will start to get a brown tint and a couple if red spots I have 3,400 gph flow from my power heads and my sump return on top of that. It is a 90 gallon tank and I have my lights on a timer from 2pm til midnight. Before I do my weekly PWC I take a scrubber and mix the sand just enough to kick the color up and out of the sand. Is this okay? Or is there a better way I could go about taking care of this.

 

[chiclidlover81]

are you using tapwater?

 

[JumperAlex]

Unfortunately I have to until I can afford an RO unit and I'm thinking I may need a chiller before that so I don't have to break my bank trying to run my air conditioner into the ground keeping the tank cool in the heat of Atlanta summer.

 

[chiclidlover81]

sounds like diatoms and they feed off the silicate in the sand bed if it is they will go away.hope this helps

 

[JumperAlex]

Thanks, but should I leave them alone? Or continue to stir them before my water changes?

 

[chiclidlover81]

stir it i used to use a turkey baster worked wonders

 

[Natelb44]

Yea I got a crew of zebra turbo snails and a few of them were large ones an they cleaned through that stuff in a few days

 

[JumperAlex]

I had a crew or hermits and snails but my banana wrasse decided he didn't like them in the tank.