What is this layer on my sand??

[namlessdude]

Hey! My uncle recently dosed a bunch of stuff to his tank and that caused a HUGE algae bloom. As part of that he has been getting this weird film like algae on his sand that he keeps combing with a net but it keeps coming back. He asked if anyone knows what it is and if it would gradually go away with water changes and time.

 

[Uncle99]

Looks like a newer system and Cyano bacteria.
Common. Check for excessive nutrients, correct and stabilize.
Then do a chemi-clean.
You got to fix the problem before the treatment or it just comes right back.

 

[JoJosReef]

Hey! My uncle recently dosed a bunch of stuff to his tank and that caused a HUGE algae bloom. As part of that he has been getting this weird film like algae on his sand that he keeps combing with a net but it keeps coming back. He asked if anyone knows what it is and if it would gradually go away with water changes and time.

Close up would be best, but looks like some cyano. Getting really good flow helps with that as well as some snails that turn over the sand bed, like a tiger conch. It looks like a young tank, so cyano, diatoms and dinos will take advantage of that and grow over things. Getting more "nutrient consumers" in the tank can help get past this--examples: ornamentsl macroalgae like codium and pom pom gracilaria, some soft corals like toadstool, zoas/palys and (shudder) xenia. The latter, Xenia, does a great job growing and using up nutrients, but you may want to isolate it as best you can on an island so that it doesn't take over everything.

 

[namlessdude]

Close up would be best, but looks like some cyano. Getting really good flow helps with that as well as some snails that turn over the sand bed, like a tiger conch. It looks like a young tank, so cyano, diatoms and dinos will take advantage of that and grow over things. Getting more "nutrient consumers" in the tank can help get past this--examples: ornamentsl macroalgae like codium and pom pom gracilaria, some soft corals like toadstool, zoas/palys and (shudder) xenia. The latter, Xenia, does a great job growing and using up nutrients, but you may want to isolate it as best you can on an island so that it doesn't take over everything.

I am 100% sure it is excess of nutrients because he added a bunch of calcium, iron, iodine, and more because he wanted to make sure his tank is topped up with nutrients for his bubble tip anemone.
I helped him setup pusling xenia and gave him a good chunk of frag from my GSP to add to his tank which from whay you're saying, should help.
His tank is new. About a month old. He has hardy fish (2 clowns and 1 long nose hawkfish which he actually got today). If the idea is depriving nutrients from the water, wouldn't stopping water changes for a bit be better than replenishing nutrients with the weekly water change schedule? I am just running on logic here but I can be wrong so please correct me if I am wrong.

 

[JoJosReef]

I am 100% sure it is excess of nutrients because he added a bunch of calcium, iron, iodine, and more because he wanted to make sure his tank is topped up with nutrients for his bubble tip anemone.
I helped him setup pusling xenia and gave him a good chunk of frag from my GSP to add to his tank which from whay you're saying, should help.
His tank is new. About a month old. He has hardy fish (2 clowns and 1 long nose hawkfish which he actually got today). If the idea is depriving nutrients from the water, wouldn't stopping water changes for a bit be better than replenishing nutrients with the weekly water change schedule? I am just running on logic here but I can be wrong so please correct me if I am wrong.

Water changes replenishes elements needed like Calcium, Magnesium and keeps Alkalinity up (which will drop as corals grow). When we talk about "nutrients", we are mostly referring to Nitrates and Phosphates, which are a result of adding food to the tank for fish to eat (and then poop). One way of preventing excess buildup of those nutrients is water changes--the water you remove has Nitrates/Phosphates, the water you replace doesn't. Other methods are using macroalgae to eat up the nutrients, using fast-growing corals, or even microalgaes that are usually a nuisance (an algae scrubber grows hair or turf algae at a fast clip that can be harvested and tossed to remove excess nutrients).

Once you get a lot of coral growth, things start to stabilize a bit more. Nitrates and phosphates get consumed more quickly and, depending on how fat and messy your fish are, you can rely a bit less on other nutrient export methods. Many, if not most reefers, will always run a skimmer, a refugium, an algae scrubber or just religious water changes.

Thus, in your case stopping water changes will allow "nutrients" to accumulate while "elements" get depleted, which may slow down coral growth and cause nutrients to amass even faster.

Btw, the bubble tip isn't going to be overly concerned with Calcium and Magnesium beyond the little bit it needs for basic biological processes--it has no skeleton it has to grow like stony corals. It is more concerned with getting enough light, getting fed periodically, and the water quality being very stable (no swinging alkalinity and whatnot).

 

[Lavey29]

I am 100% sure it is excess of nutrients because he added a bunch of calcium, iron, iodine, and more because he wanted to make sure his tank is topped up with nutrients for his bubble tip anemone.
I helped him setup pusling xenia and gave him a good chunk of frag from my GSP to add to his tank which from whay you're saying, should help.
His tank is new. About a month old. He has hardy fish (2 clowns and 1 long nose hawkfish which he actually got today). If the idea is depriving nutrients from the water, wouldn't stopping water changes for a bit be better than replenishing nutrients with the weekly water change schedule? I am just running on logic here but I can be wrong so please correct me if I am wrong.

Shouldn't be dosing a single thing in a one month tank. Just weekly water changes or your water chemistry will be all messed up.

 

[monfilsi]

If you can get your hands on a microscope that would help to id for sure. Then you can target the fix on the correct root cause. I wouldn't use chemiclean until you you know for sure it is cyano. Even then I personally wouldn't use it as a first line of defence.

 

[namlessdude]

It sounds like my best bet is to continue cleaning the tank and do water changes while maintaining patience. Thanks all for the help!

 

[PharmrJohn]

Water changes replenishes elements needed like Calcium, Magnesium and keeps Alkalinity up (which will drop as corals grow). When we talk about "nutrients", we are mostly referring to Nitrates and Phosphates, which are a result of adding food to the tank for fish to eat (and then poop). One way of preventing excess buildup of those nutrients is water changes--the water you remove has Nitrates/Phosphates, the water you replace doesn't. Other methods are using macroalgae to eat up the nutrients, using fast-growing corals, or even microalgaes that are usually a nuisance (an algae scrubber grows hair or turf algae at a fast clip that can be harvested and tossed to remove excess nutrients).

Once you get a lot of coral growth, things start to stabilize a bit more. Nitrates and phosphates get consumed more quickly and, depending on how fat and messy your fish are, you can rely a bit less on other nutrient export methods. Many, if not most reefers, will always run a skimmer, a refugium, an algae scrubber or just religious water changes.

Thus, in your case stopping water changes will allow "nutrients" to accumulate while "elements" get depleted, which may slow down coral growth and cause nutrients to amass even faster.

Btw, the bubble tip isn't going to be overly concerned with Calcium and Magnesium beyond the little bit it needs for basic biological processes--it has no skeleton it has to grow like stony corals. It is more concerned with getting enough light, getting fed periodically, and the water quality being very stable (no swinging alkalinity and whatnot).

This.