ground cover weirdness

[00BUCC47]

We have live sand n shells in our 75 gallon tank... its becoming covered with some sort of black mold or fungus.. we think... we had a major snail attack a couple of months back... killed all the plants .. we just recently got new filters took off the black background and brought a sun glow 4200k blub.. plants were coming back to life turning bright green and sprouting new leaves... for abt a week now my amazon sword is dying again the sand is turning black again.. what gives .. we never turn off the lighting and the tank is in front of a window.. what is this madness..

 

[Prediscus23]

You never turn the lighting off?....

 

[00BUCC47]

No we don't .... is that the issue?

 

[Prediscus23]

If you have live plants, yes it is. Plants need darkness just as much as light. They do all of their growing at night. You want to simulate natural conditions as much as possible. Plants take in co2 during the day and let it out at night. It's part of the natural process. Also, you will have crazy algae problems. The fish need darkness too.

How long have you been having this tank set up?

 

[00BUCC47]

Since March

 

[Prediscus23]

Since March

Are there live plants?

 

[00BUCC47]

Amazon sword ...some anubis ... had some money worts they died...

 

[Zimmanski]

Actually, plants will go through their cycles whether the lights are on all the time or not, many people growing plants emersed leave the light on 24/7 without any issue other than a higher electricity bill. In an aquarium though, this will cause major algae outbreaks like you're seeing. I'm going to assume since you said its black that it is BBA(black brush algae) which like other algae comes from an imbalance in the light cycle, fertilization, and carbon. You need to shorten your light to about 8-10 hours of on time, and until the algae is under control keep them on for less than 6 hrs. You can spot treat the algae with excel or hydrogen peroxide too.

 

[Billbug68]

First off, live sand is for marine aquariums, not freshwater. This is probably causing some issue. Along with, yes, running lights 24/7 is a big no no. 6-8 hours is generally recommended. It's also said that natural light from a window will cause algae problems... You've got quite a few things that need fixin...

 

[20cc]

so you fish have to sleeep with the lights on ?

 

[00BUCC47]

So the live sand may be the culprit

 

[Zimmanski]

So the live sand may be the culprit

Has anything changed? What have you done with your lighting schedule?

 

[aqua_chem]

Do you have a picture? It could be BGA.



It doesn't seem likely to me that live sand would cause a problem like that.