Hey ya'll I have been noticing that my live sand is starting to look a little dirty, it's not as white as it was when I first set my tank up whick was about 6 months ago, is this normal? 
Live sand question
- Thread starter reefking
- Start date
there is no black patches, it is really just a dingy look. I have about 8 large hermits, that I am going to get rid of and get smaller ones, the large ones are too destructive and leave alot of waste. I am not sure what kind of live sand it is, I bought it from my lfs it was in a bag filled with water, but it was a real pretty white at first, and it is really fine. When I clean the tank and disturb the sand it will cloud the water for a little bit, hope this helps.
Do you have any other critters to help maintain it, or just the hermits? IME, hermits don't really dig deep enough--you may want to add some snails that will burrow, like cerith and nasarrius snails, or one of the smaller conchs. There are a variety of worms and stars that are great. Look for Sand Bed fauna starter kits--more critters will help keep it cleaner.
Swimfins
This is as good as it gets.
At the front of the tank I like to dig deep with my gravel vac so at least in visible areas it looks clean
Are black patches bad? I get some really dark spots but I dont have a good cleaner crew... I simple use a fish net and filter my sand. I empty the nasty stuff into a bucket and make sure im not getting rid of good things....
I'd get clean up crews . How deep are your sand beds? If they aren't very deep when you stir them up you introduce o2 into areas of your tank that normally are very low in o2 or have none. The bacteria that reduce ammonia to nitrogen require a low o2 environment to live. most of the clean up crew critters are pretty cheap,"I know Santa is coming to town," and if you go heavy on various varieties of snails they'll do a really good job for you.
Ive heard many great things about the DSB tanks today. A deep sand bed seems to be very benificial to aquariums of any size. I think you want a
4-6inch sand bed. Even though it takes away from space, I think you'll benifit in the long run. But this is just what I've read, Talk to me in a few years when I've have years of experience
-LS
4-6inch sand bed. Even though it takes away from space, I think you'll benifit in the long run. But this is just what I've read, Talk to me in a few years when I've have years of experience
-LS