Burrowing Baby Brittles
<< I am attempting to increase my sandbed from 2 1/2" to 4". I have some
baby brittle stars and other goodies in my current sand bed. Do I need to worry about burying them too deep if I add the new sand all at once?
Do I have to add the new sand in stages? I would rather do it all at once, but I fear I will bury much of my live detritivores by adding all of the sand at once.
>>
Good question... I share your concern. If it were me, I would add the sand (washed) a bit at a time (like ten pounds, or a gallon or so) each water change... There's much to be gained by going slower here... and nothing to be lost by taking your time.
Bob Fenner

Sand stirring
First I must Comment about how much I enjoy your column. I'm setting up a 29 gal. reef as I write I am using a live sand bed. I would like to know what the best fish/invert is for keeping the sand stirred.
Thanks, Charles Willis
>>
It is an honor and a privilege to serve the folks and their livestock through and with this forum... and very much a fun and educational "job" for me...
For this size system, I would use something in the way of a small species of goby... Maybe a Phalaena or Amblygobius... after it's been up a good three months... I would have to skip some of my favorite Valenciennea spp. due to the likelihood of starvation, and the same for Seastar species that might do well in a bigger system... As well as my favorite over-achievers in the way of bottom searching, the Goatfishes (family Mullidae).
Bob Fenner

Reef Tank
Hi Bob, I'm having a problem in my tank and I do not know what's going on. In the left side of my tank, I have a very bad problem with the sand. It seems orange-brown and every time I recycle the sand to get rid of it, it comes back a few hours later. It seems to subside at night when the lights are off and gets very vivid when the lights go on.
I have a 72 gallon bow front with 4 X 96 power compact lights that are on timers. The blue lights go on for 10 hours a day, 1 hour before and 1 hour after the regular lights.
I have a UV sterilizer.
I tested the water and everything was fine.
Originally the store where I buy my reef items from said maybe it was being caused by the flow, so I moved it over a bit and we still had a problem.
Than someone else at the store said it was red slime and gave us a treatment. We put the treatment in Friday night and it seems the same to worse. The treatment says we can put another treatment in, 48 hours from the first. But it didn't seem to help the first time. 
Please help!
Sincerely,
Steve Rubin 
<Hmm, coloring might be mainly bacterial or even abiotic but still organic in origin... at any length if it bothers you, I would first endeavor to enhance water movement there (redirect a powerhead, small pump, place an "air wand" along it...), or mix in some more coarse substrate, scoot the substrate away from the vicinity... And in the longer term, perhaps mix in some more/better (Hawaiian?) sand stirring type organisms... a bunch detailed in places on our site (where else?): Home Page 
Bob Fenner

Live Rocks & Live Sands
Hi! your website is really a big help for those people who want to start up a marine aquarium like me.
My question is 1) Can LR & LS be one of the reasons of diseases (Amyloodinium, cryptocaryon etc.) or possibly contribute to the downfall of a marine aquarium. 
<Rarely, but yes... if the LR or LS starts to go sidewise... it/they can hurt water quality... and consequently fish health... but have no firm evidence of a parasite having been introduced by these materials.>
2) Does it have any negative or positive effect on the water quality.
<Many positive effects... see the piece, FAQs... on Live Rock, Sand on the site>
3) Is there a way/process you can do to kill/sterilize or condition the LR & LS before putting them to your marine aquarium so you can minimize the diseases.
<Just a standard break in, curing period... really>
I'll appreciate any help, my email is Thanks in advance.
Bing

Live Sand - Bubbles
Thanks in advance - this site is great! I have a 100g. tank with about 3 inches of live sand (actually half live/half regular). I have three white burrowing starfish and 5 horseshoe crabs to stir the sand. I also have a Banded Goby. However, in the front of the tank there are bubbles in the sand. When I stir it seems to only be next to the glass. Do I need more sand sifters?
<Not in my opinion... the gasses are likely no problem... likely indicative of vigorous activity itself... no blackness, sulfur smell? I wouldn't add more sand sifters>
It seems like they just don't get right up next to the glass.
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!
Cathy
<You're doing fine. Bob Fenner>

Re: Live Sand
Hey Bob how are you? My clown passed away on Saturday I was really disappointed that I let that happen I have never had a fish die on me before... it's a big let down. I wanted to thank you for all your help and you speedy response.
<Sorry to hear of the loss>
I must move on I have live sand and I have trouble cleaning it. I use a python and when I try to siphon the dirt the sand comes along with it. Is their any other method of cleaning?
<Hmm, either just gently stirring it with a wood or plastic dowel and/or letting "sand stirring" organisms do this and/or having an outside power filter of some sort with mechanical sieving remove the particulates...>
I was thinking of slowly adding crushed coral and removing the live sand is that a good idea or is that just dumb. 
<Either one works... what do you hope to gain by the change?>
I was also thinking about just adding crushed coral over the live sand but do not know if their are any ramifications in doing that. 
<Most likely the two will simply get mixed together over time>
One more thing what is
the most accurate test kit you have come across.
<Practically speaking? Either Hach or LaMotte... but Salifert is accurate AND precise enough. Please read: http://wetwebmedia.com/martstkitfaqs.htm
Bob Fenner>

Re: Live Sand
I was hoping that I would be able us the python and clean the tank better.
<You can... but "cleanliness is not sterility"... you don't want to "clean" the substrate too well>
I was thinking of just stirring the sand and with a fine net removing the particles that come up out of the sand but I was told that would kill bacteria and produce more nitrate is this true?
<No... consider the alternatives... and their results. Bob Fenner>

Re: Live Sand... Water Change?
> I was hoping that I would be able us the python and clean the tank better.
> <You can... but "cleanliness is not sterility"... you don't want to "clean" the substrate too well>
> I was thinking of just stirring the sand and with a fine net removing the particles that come up out of the sand but I was told that would kill bacteria and produce more nitrate is this true?
I was thinking about doing a water change today the last time I did one was last week. My numbers are
Nitrite - .20
Ammonia - .50
PH - 8.6 (I Can't get the ph down what can I do)
Nitrate - 80
I won't be able to do one next week because I am going away should I wait or do it now.
<Please read: http://wetwebmedia.com/waterchg.htm
Bob Fenner>

Live Sand
Hello and good evening to you!
<And you>
I wrote to you not so long ago about creating a refugium in my sump. All is going well and I now have my sand & rock placed in the refugiums. I have a quick question. I have about 5lbs of live sand left over. I would add it to the main system but I am happy with it's depth and stability. Can I store the sand that I have left over?
<Mmm, not really... at least not as very live... best to place it>
If it were to be kept in a sealed container and left could it last a few months?
<No... if you want to store it, may as well rinse it thoroughly in freshwater... store as "dead">
It would be at that time that I think it would be a good idea to replace some from my main DSB.
No rush for a response.
<The organisms in the sand can't wait. Bob Fenner>

Re: Good Sand Cleaners
hey,
I was wondering if you could tell me of a good animal that would clean my sand in my tank. I am using silica sand that I bought from home depot that seems to be working fine. I have noticed however that when it gets stirred up there is a cloud that develops. so I am taking great strides to keep my hands and siphons out of the sand. any kind of live rock safe animal whether it be fish, crab, shrimp whatever. that can do the job I would like to know what it is:) - Thanks a lot. Brandon Meador
<My preference for sand stirring duty is the use of the tiny critters; worms, limpets, copepods, amphipods, etc. If you are looking for larger, more visible animals, Nassarius snails, Scarlet Reef Hermit Crabs, Serpent and Brittle Starfish are all good choices. -Steven Pro>

Anaerobic sand
Dear Bob Anthony Steven
<we three are now melded into one being... unfortunately, two of us didn't know about the severity of the problem with flatulence that the third one has...ahem. Nonetheless, Anthony Calfo in your service>
I have two issues for you today if you will. Anthony, I took your advice about six weeks or so and began emptying out the cup in my Remora skimmer daily. Output kicked up immediately. Coincidentally, the Rio pump on it died about the same time, and I replaced it with a MJ1200. I am truly pumping slime now! 
<outstanding>
As yet I have seen no improvement in the underlying problem, however. That is a "blanket" of algae on top of the DSB, mostly surrounding my (thriving 18-month) Heteractis malu. 
<yes...many times the dissolved nutrient level without a daily performing skimmer concentrates to great levels after months or even years. Especially then, it will take more than few weeks with a weaker skimmer to catch up. Increased water flow in the tank will help too>
Now other real algae issues in the tank. I clean some of the same golden jelly-like algae off my glass twice a week. At the advice of my usually-reliable LFS, I added about 48 (yeah, 4 dozen) Nassarius (sp?) snails about a month ago. 
<For cleaning diatoms off of glass?!?>
(Some reading has since disclosed that this is two or three times what my 55 gal tank with 65 lb LR should sustain, but so far they seem to be doing all right. A-a-r-g-h!) Scum blanket is unchanged.
<sure...its like putting a platter full of filet mignon in a room full of vegetarians>
The second issue flows from two black areas in the DSB.. The larger is about 4 square inches and growing. Both start about one inch below the sand surface. A few days ago I got a whiff of sulfur off the water surface. My LFS says this is just evidence that the DSB is doing its denitrification thing properly, but I have my doubts. 
<You are right to trust your doubts>
The tank is 2 years old, but I only put in the DSB about 6 months ago. Basic parameters have always been excellent - - zero NOx’s and phosphates, pH 8.3. Calcium and alkalinity have always been a struggle (currently 310 and 8.0). 
<Is the sand deep enough? over 3" is minimum necessary... over 5" would be ideal. If you are under three inches, then I'm not surprised. Aerobic pockets are rare in tanks with adequate circulation, but this combines with the presence of blanket algae on the substrate is prime evidence that there are dead spots of water flow at the bottom of the aquarium. Sounds like you need to add or adjust water flow>
The tank is lightly populated, with only 4 smallish fish and 6 modest-sized soft corals. Everybody is healthy, although I think my hammer coral would like more calcium. How much trouble am I in with the black spots?
<very little risk...it bubbles off easily. But do correct and prevent from more occurring>
Best regards and thanks for all your help. Newt
<always welcome. Anthony>

Live Sand
Mr. Fenner,
<Anthony Calfo in your service>
I begin by saying thanks for the amazing service that you and the WWM provide. A wonderful and invaluable resource that borders on information overload! 
<yes... we have been told that we are really full of it many times<G>>
I have been able to research numerous topics with your FAQ's and your added Google search engine! Thank you.
<excellent to hear>
My question is about live sand. I am seeing "clumps" of sand -- I tried that in the search feature -- and have noticed that the grains seem to be sticking together.
<yes, I understand and can explain it>
Tank info:
58 Gallon + Wet Dry Ceramic Media)/skimmer + HOT Magnum
Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate >10ppm
pH 8.1
dKH 10
Calcium 400
I add the Kent CB as the tests warrant and had been using Aragamilk.
<bingo... misapplication as part of the problem>
My sand "crew" includes:
<this has nothing to do with detritivore activity>
Sand sifting star, Over-achieving Dragon Goby,
<yes... Amblygobius phalaena: this goby is one of the very best and most hardy!!! for sand sifting. I love them>
10 Blue-legged hermits, and a Blue Damsel that has taken to re-arranging the sand in three of the four corners of the tank!
What do these clumps indicate about my water chemistry? 
<it is exactly precipitated (literally) by wildly fluctuating chemistry. Perhaps unnoticed by you if you test your pH at the same time every day. Some folks get it by pouring in Kalkwasser solutions too much or too fast which causes a temporary spike in pH locally. It may occur from the misapplication of other Ca or Alk products (like your Aragamilk product.. of which I am dubious about its benefits in the big picture) when used too much or too quickly (smaller more frequent dosing is better than large weekly doses. And finally it can happen in tanks (receiving such products or not) that have wild "natural" swings in pH between night and day. I see that you report a pH of 8.1. If this is accurate and a reading taken by day as I suspect (when pH in aquaria is highest by far)... then you have a borderline serious problem with pH. You may actually be dipping down to 7.8 or lower at night (tank respiration). And this is all assuming that your test kit read accurately! What if the kit read high? And your day night readings are actually 7.9/7.6...yikes! No wonder then aragonite in your bed is fusing.>
Or is this supposed to happen? 
<nope... an indication of a minor flaw in the system that could turn into something bigger. Still not much to worry about>
Everything looks fabulous but I am noticing more of these little sand "balls" every day. 
<yes... do examine your dosing system and day night pH swings (take a test reading after a long dark night before the lights come on and not after a fresh dose of ca/ALK)>
I really did try to find this mentioned in the FAQ section and under LS but I may have been looking for the wrong thing.
<appreciate you taking the time to look... hopefully you found other interesting things>
Thanks for all your hard work and for sharing your expertise. Have a wonderful day. Lee
<best regards, Anthony>

What are those bubbles? Live sand query!
Bob,
Thank you for such an informative look at aquarium keeping. I am returning to the hobby after a four year "break" and have set up a 58 gallon reef tank. After much time at your site I have learned that so much has changed in the hobby.
<Ah, welcome back "to the fold">
We just passed the two week point. The tank is running great and levels are superb for the moment -- no ammonia, no nitrite, and less than 10ppm nitrate. I am using about 60 lbs of live sand, 35 lbs of live rock, and 30 pounds of limestone base rock. After much fussing with air hoses and pumps, the skimmer is producing some great nasty-looking junk! Filtration consists of a HOT Magnum and a Sealife Systems Pro Series 300 wet/dry. We have even made it past the ugly diatom stage. More live rock will be added at a rate of 10lbs a week until I am happy with the look of the mini reef!
<Sounds good>
Fish include: Long-nosed Hawk, Watchman Goby, Fire Fish, and a Blue Damsel. Clean-up crew includes: 10 blue legged Hermits, 5 Turbo Snails, Sally Lightfoot Crab, Serpent Star Small) and a Sand Sifting Star.
<Do keep your Hawkfish well-fed... it may well ingest your crustaceans>
After time at your site I know that I need to reconsider the wet/dry or replace the bio-balls! Advice here?
<Watch your nitrates, pest-algae growth... pull the plastic media as it makes sense to you>
The Substrate is where my question lies: The sand bed ranges in depth from 1-3 inches. I know that I need to add to that for de-nitrification and I will do so within the week.
<Okay>
I am seeing tiny bubbles in the sand. What gas makes up these bubbles? Good or bad?
<Life, more good than bad. If they don't "smell bad", don't be concerned. Can, will be vacuumed, stirred out over time... eventually other processes will discount their production to being unnoticeable.>
Also, in creating a DSB am I trying to create anaerobic zone?
<Intentionally to an extent, yes>
I always heard that this was trouble but like I said, so much has changed in the past four years. Any additional thoughts would be very helpful and very much appreciated.
<Please do take a read through WetWebMedia.com, starting with the search tool at the bottom of the homepage... putting in terms like anaerobic, DSB...>
Thanks for your time and consideration. I know that you guys are very busy and any info you can share will be helpful.
<We all have exactly the same amount of time my friend. Thank you for sharing. Bob Fenner>
Best regards,
Lee Kirgan

Livesand and Frozen Foods
Hello again,
<Hello>
Two questions that I've been wondering about for a while:
First, is it okay to occasionally stir up the top layer of live sand? Some gets stirred up when I clean algae off the glass, and other times I give a small area a stir on the surface to kick up debris. If it's okay, is the resulting temporary white cloud harmful to my fish?
<Do not go too deep. I will occasionally lightly dust the top 1/4" to get rid of diatoms.>
Secondly, my puffers love frozen shell-on shrimp. Is it a problem to actually feed it to them frozen -- as in, not thawed? In addition to the shell I thought that it being frozen would also help to wear down their teeth, but if it is a bad practice then I will thaw from now on.
<Interesting, I would think you would be ok, but perhaps just thaw the food anyway. It will give you sometime to let the food soak in vitamins/supplements. I like Boyd's Vita-Chem and American Marine Selcon.>
Thanks so much, Karen
<You are welcome. -Steven Pro>

Sulfur in the Sand Bed (12/22/2003)
Ahhhh.  I have a 20H nano set-up, with app. 3 inches of fine oolithic sand in the display tank and a 5" DSB in a 10 gallon refugium (also fine grain size).  This evening I decided to move a shaving brush from my display into my refugium, and when I pulled out the root ball, the sand on the roots smelled fairly strongly of Sulphur. <"sulfur" as in sulfur dioxide or "rotten egg" as in hydrogen sulfide?> 
I know this is obviously not a good thing, as it must be poisonous to marine life.  I change 3 gallons weekly, run PolyFilter and a bit of carbon, and employ macroalgae in the refugium as a means of nutrient export. 
<Admirable husbandry practices.>  
I am skimmer-less at this point, and I plan on getting one soon, but that is besides the point at hand.  I am a bit confused here, as I did all the research for months before I set this up, and I have had success thus far as far as inhabitants are concerned.  It is a fairly young set up, roughly 4 months now, and this is the first time I have noticed this.  I took a pipette and sampled the sand in my DSB as well, and I also noticed a slight scent on Sulphur.   I am very worried now, I am not quite sure what is happening here, and I  can't find much info on it anywhere.  I am assuming the sand beds are turning into nutrient sinks, but of that I am not certain.  Any suggestions would be appreciated, as I am a little shocked at the moment and I would love to hear what you fine folks think I should do here.  I am assuming the sand bed is not being
stirred enough and it is too static, but I'm not sure how to remedy it.  I hope that I do not have to break this down and begin again, but if I do, so be it.  Thanks again guys, I really need some advice on this one.
<I really don't think you need to be too concerned about this. Some sulfurous gasses are a natural product of the anaerobic processes in the DSB. They seldom rise to toxic levels. If you have good circulation and are doing some careful superficial stirring (manual or with critters that stir) and ill gasses produced will be released so gradually as to not be toxic. Your use of carbon, PolyFilter and water changes will help a great deal. There is some more information scattered around WWM. Search on sulfur, Sulphur and sulfide for info.>

LIVE SAND PROBLEMS
<<Hello, JasonC here at your service... has anyone ever mentioned that when you type with the caps-lock on, people think YOU ARE YELLING AT THEM! No worries, it's just a little hard on the eyes.>>
HI I HAVE A 75 GALLON TANK I HAVE LITTLE STALKS GROWING OUT OF THE LIVE SAND BED LOOKS LIKE STALAGMITES IN A CAVE I THINK THAT'S THE ONE THAT START ON THE FLOOR AND GROWS TO THE CEILING <<It is indeed.>> I DON'T KNOW WHAT IT IS <<Neither do I... are these actually like stalagmites or are they more tube like?>> SPEC IN THE TANK 8.0 TO 8/2 ALK 3.0/4.0 MEG/LTR CALC 350 400 NITRATE LESS THAN 5 AND PHOS LESS THAN.1 EVS PROTEIN SKIMMER24 INCHES HIGH TWO WHITES AND TWO BLUES URI ACTINICS MED LOAD OF SOFT CORALS AND FIVE SMALL FISH ABOUT 85LBS LIVE FIJI ROCK AND TEMP 77 PLEAS HELP IF YOU CAN A TON OF CRITTER CLEANUP THANKS
<<Well... just based on your description I have no clue. You might try browsing this page: http://www.tcnj.edu/~maughme2/faq.htm which is a "Hitchhiker and Critter ID" page - has photos and really good descriptions. You may have better luck there than you did with me. Cheers, J -- >>

Re: LIVE SAND PROBLEMS
<<Hello, JasonC again...>>
if you touch them they fall over and just lay there its like there are some type of minute bugs or something building them but you can see
anything at all moving about <<I agree with your proposal that some type of minute bug is building these, although it could also be a worm of some type. If you haven't seen anything crawling around, perhaps try sneaking a peek when the tank lights are off, using a flashlight to spot them - I think you might see something running around then. In any case, no worries, these things are likely helping keep the place more tidy than without them, and is a good sign of life.>> like you said beats me I will keep trying <<Good luck.>>
thanks for your help
<<You are welcome. Cheers, J -- >>