# Keeping my sand clean and white



## snuffy (Oct 19, 2007)

Hi guys,

I have my new 40g tank up and running for about a month now. Never had a tank with much sand it in. I have about 44 watts going on for about 9 hours. Pumping in co2. So I'm getting what I think is algae on my sand. It's brownish. I usually just python it out during water changes, but it looks like it'll just come back in 2-3 days.

Is there anything I can do to help keep my sand clean? I have a SAE and a small group of otos in my tank, but they seem not to touch the sand. I tried having nerite snails in there, but my water is too soft... their shells dissolve after a while T____T Maybe MTS snails? Just worried they'll mix my ADA soil with my sand...

I look at all these other tanks posted online and their sand is so pristine! Any suggestions will be welcomed!


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## Seattle_Aquarist (Mar 7, 2008)

Hi snuffy,

It could be Diatoms as well, they are brownish and seem to thrive in tanks where I have a lot of silica. Oto's will go after them, but may not keep something as fine as sand 'pristine'. Keep in mind that a lot of those aquascapes that we see in the competitions are not set up for the 'long term, but rather are just set up for the competition and then broken down. A 'sustainable' aquascape is different in my mind from a 'competititon' aquascape.


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## aquaphish (Jan 22, 2005)

Get the Ottos they will help. But what I see is a very low light system. a 40gal with 44watts is not much light to grow many plants IMO. I have a 40 gal with 100watts.


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## snuffy (Oct 19, 2007)

Ah hopefully the otos will slow the growth of the diatoms and I'll just clean up what's left over with my weekly water changes then.

I might have read the description wrong. I have two of these strips on my tank. So it's 21 watts each lamp? Does that mean bulb?

http://www.bigalsonline.com/BigAlsU...6/cl0/coralifefwt5aqualightdoublestriplight36

I'm growing blyxa japonica, rotalas green, hairgrass, purple bamboo, needle ferns, lacy ferns, bolbitis, and fissiden.

Any suggestions on a solid lighting fixture for my 40? Kinda on a budget since I'll be going on a family trip soon.

Thanks!


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## Seattle_Aquarist (Mar 7, 2008)

Hi snuffy,

If you have two of the double strip lights (total OF 4 bulbs) then your total wattage over than aquarium would be 84 watts or about 2 watts per gallon (WPG).

Actually I like that amount of light. Used in conjunction with a good supply of CO2 you should be able to grow most plant types with the exception of those requiring "High Light".

Here is one of my 2 WPG tanks.


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## snuffy (Oct 19, 2007)

Yeah I'm a dummy... The term lamp confused me =( Thanks for the all the info!


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## JERP (Feb 4, 2003)

can you post pics?

Could it just be mulm?
Is it loose or attached to the sand?
Would some additional water circulation help?
Maracyn would take care of diatoms as well, but do a large water change or carbon filter the water the next day.


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## niko (Jan 28, 2004)

One way to keep the sand beyond clean is to introduce fish that bury themselves in the substrate and actually move under it.

You may not want such fish but even one of them will stir and shake the sand very well. I had a 120 gal. tank once with a single 3" long loach looking fish in it that spend most if it's life swimming under the sand. One day I decided to vacuum the substrate. I was pretty shocked to find out that there was nothing to vacuum. The sand bed was about 1-1/2" deep. I shoved the vacuum in the substrate and moved it around. All that came down in the bucket was crystal clear water.

That fish didn't disturb the roots of the Crypts either. And never uprooted even freshly planted stem plants. It did not move sand around like cichlids do. Just swam in it.

Just an idea.

Another idea is to keep the nutrients available but below the readable scale. Surprise surprise ADA does that but we don't like to talk about that here on APC. Simplified -you are providing just enough nutrients for the plants to grow well, but there is no excess. Algae does not grow even on the glass. The tank needs to be properly established too - which is not the same as '"an old tank" that "has been running up for years".

Ah yes - a third idea is to keep Amano shrimp in appropriate numbers. That does not mean 50 in a 20 gallon tank. Or any specific number. It means that the number of Amanos is just enough to make them sequester all algae in sight. You will never see any algae. Ever. That may mean you need to put 200 amanos in a 40 gal tank initially and remove them gradually as they take care of the algae. You get the idea. And, no - 200 amanos in a 40 gal. tank is not too many. Depending on what you are dealing with.

And a fourth idea - keep both Amanos and dwarf shrimp as well as several species of snails. The reasoning behind that is to create a conveyor belt for processing the waste - the Amanos break down the biggest pieces of waste, the dwarf shrimp take care of the smaller pieces, and the snails finish it all off to the finest possible size. Then IF your bacteria is good (find some of my posts about "cool bacteria" here in APC) you will end up with a tank that never accumulates any mulm. 

All that being said keeping the sand white is a pain in the neck anyway! 

--Nikolay


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## sampster5000 (Jul 24, 2010)

niko said:


> One day I decided to vacuum the substrate. I was pretty shocked to find out that there was nothing to vacuum. The sand bed was about 1-1/2" deep. I shoved the vacuum in the substrate and moved it around. All that came down in the bucket was crystal clear water.
> 
> --Nikolay


How did you vacuum your sand and not suck it all up? I need a way to clean my dang sand in my 75 gallon SA cichlid tank.


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## Diana K (Dec 20, 2007)

In a new set up I would think the problem is diatoms. Otos will eat this, but only from the glass and other smooth surfaces, not from the sand. 
Keep on cleaning. When the silica is gone the diatoms will quit growing. 
Remove the diatoms from the sand, and vacuum the fish waste pretty well. When the Otos eat the diatoms the silica is being recycled, and is available to grow more diatoms. When you remove the fish poop you are removing the silica the diatoms need to grow. 

How to vacuum sand:
Hold the outlet tube of the siphon in one hand while guiding the larger part inside the tank with the other. Be ready to pinch off the tube if the sand gets too high in the larger tube. 
Hold the large tube at an angle, not straight up and down. Barely touch the sand, digging in maybe 1/2" at the most until you get some practice. And that 1/2" is only a corner of the large tube, not the whole mouth of the tube. Then drag the large tube around slowly. As long as most of the mouth of this tube is taking in water from the water column, not through the substrate then the sand will not get inhaled. As you work at getting closer to the substrate some sand will start entering the large tube. Some sand is heavier than others, and falls back out easier. You will have to practice to get the feel for how to deal with your sand.


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## sampster5000 (Jul 24, 2010)

Interesting. I'll have to try it out. I was thinking my faucet sucks with too much pressure but I'll try it like you said. Thanks.


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## Diana K (Dec 20, 2007)

If you are using the Python or similar product then you may need to work out a way to keep the flow going at a slower rate. This will depend on your set up, but here are a few ideas:

If the outlet is downhill from the tank, then get the flow going, then turn off the tap. Gravity will take over, probably slower than gravity plus the tap water running, and pinching off the flow for a few seconds will not hurt anything. 

If the outlet is uphill from the tank, then adjust your tap, which is keeping the flow going from the aquarium. See if you can slow it down enough that the water movement in the tank is just enough to move the debris without picking up too much sand. 
I do not know the effect of pinching off the outlet tube under these conditions. I would lift the Python away from the sand in case there is a surge when you allow the flow to resume. Then lower it back down to resume vacuuming. 

As with anything, practice. Each set up is different.


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## totziens (Jun 28, 2008)

It's very painful to keep white sand clean. I tore down one of my tanks after a few months of setting up because of this issue + my tank cracked. It's almost impossible to keep them clean for long term. You will get algae, mulm, debris, fish poo, etc. Honestly, ottos, SAEs, snails and shrimps will not help to keep the white sand clean.

One of my friends maintain his white sand by regularly siphoning the upper layer out and discard. He would top up the lost sand with new one. It's an expensive method especially to those who use shirui sand.

I agree that a lot of those aquascapes that we see in the competitions short term tanks that will be broken down after the contests. White sand is not meant for long term tanks unless you don't mind dirty sand.


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## potatoes (Jun 25, 2010)

If you decide that it is too hard to keep it clean, you could get a low dense forground plant to cover it. i know it dosnt fix the problem, but it is a partial solution...


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## totziens (Jun 28, 2008)

Ditto to potatoes' suggestion. At least you won't see the dirty sand when your plants are very dense.


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