Detrius

[Mr_Cool]

I know I've seen it somewhere before. But, how do I control the detrius build-up in my 55 gallon? (If there's another thread somewhere that will give me what I need, please just give me the link or something.)

I have a yellow damsel that seem to enjoy kicking up the sand at one end of the tank and it gets all over the rocks. But, there's also this brown powdery stuff on the other rocks, too. I think that's detrius, right? Do I just need more flow in the tank? Or, do I need some extra mechanical filtration?

Any help would be appreciated.

[GaryP]

1. Mechanical Filtration

2. Additional circulation

3. Detritivores such as brittle stars, hermits, or nassarius snails.

That's a good start anyway. Could the brown powdery stuff be diatoms? If so, that could be the result of an excess of silicates.

[gjuarez]

Very true, could be diatoms. How's your aquascaping? Maybe you could space it a little more and add a bit more of flow to eliminate as many dead spots as possible. Increase the flow and keep detritus off the sand and watch your skimmer go wild. Aim at having no dead spots at all. Ditto on the hermits

[Mr_Cool]

So, how do you get rid of the diatoms then? I have a deep sand bed where I just used regular silica sand. Everything I read from the "experts" said that silca sand works just as well as aragonite except for the added benefit of pH buffering that you get with aragonite. I know others have concerns with this type of sand leaching silicates into the water, but from what I read, it didn't make sense to me, either. I mean, isn't the glass tank made from sand? I don't remember exactly why, but the "experts" (like Dr. Ron) say that is nothing to worry about.

I haven't done it yet, but when I move my tank, I think I'm going to start using RO/DI water. Could diatoms be a result of this?

[hobogato]

if you are using dechlorinated tap water, then you are adding lots of phosphates and probably silicates to your tank. the brown stuff may be cyanobacteria, which love phosphates. once you switch to RO/DI, you will notice a big difference.

[gjuarez]

I am guessing its probably diatoms. Cyano usually grows on rocks and parts of the sand. Any pics? I would use all RO/DI water. Regular tap, like mentioned by Ace, does have phosphates and silicates and that is food for nuisuance algaes.

[Mr_Cool]

Yea, I know that the phosphates in tap water will contribute to cyanobacteria. But, I don't have a real problem with that. I few spots here and there, but it doesn't bother me too much. The diatoms do, though.

I'm thinking of moving my tank today or tomorrow. I'm adding a sump with the move, and probably a fuge a little later. I've been putting off the move because I'm still trying to figure out how to plumb the returns and what not. I'm not sure how to remove dead spots. It seems like you need a bunch of return outlets and/or a bunch of power heads. But, where should they be positioned in the tank? And, where should I have them aimed? I don't want to blow the sand all over the place. And although I don't have a whole lot of corals right now, I don't want what I have now, or what I'll be adding to get blown all over the place. I've seen returns and power heads aimed to break the water surface, and aimed at the front glass. Will that configuration get the detrius off the rocks? Any suggestions?

[GaryP]

The diatoms can be coming from tap water too. Tap water has silicates in it that contribute to diatom growth.

Another source of silicates can be from a silicate based phosphate absorber such as Phosguard.

[Mr_Cool]

Thanks guys! I'm definately going to stop using tap water then. I don't use Phosguard, so the silicates must be coming from the tap water.

What about aiming the returns and power heads? I'm thinking I'll put the returns in the back corners, and aim them at the front of the tank. Then, a power head at each end of the tank at different depths. Should I aim these at the back of the tank, or across the tank, or what?

[JimD]

RO/DI is a must 99% of the times in saltwater. Get one asap, siphon the detritus off the rocks and in the corners during regular water changes and the diatoms will most likely go away on their own.

[GaryP]

If you can't get one right away, check out which LFS in your area sell RO water. Before I bought one of my own, I bought water. You can get 6 gal. water jugs in the camping dept. at Walmart or Academy. They are very good for hauling water in. For a small tank like yours, using distilled water from HEB or Walmart may be more convenient.

[Mr_Cool]

That's what I was thinking. I think HEB has RO water from Culligan for like $.25/gallon. (What's the difference between RO and distilled?) I have some old 5 gallon bottles that I can put in the machine to get the water, too.

[jroescher]

Check out the water filter sites listed on the sponser page. They all have articles published that explain all about the different types of filtration. It's pretty interesting reading.

[GaryP]

Distilled is deionized and then distilled. They boil it and then condense the steam.