1 week old tank- Sand browning drastically
 

Just as the title says.
Transffered this tank from my uncles a week ago.Over the last couple days, a darkining cover has started and rapidly growing to take over the floor of my tank.
It is concentrated around the heater and back of the tank darker in some areas with other patches suggesting that it is just a matter of time before the whole floor is covered.
What on earth is this?
How do I get rid of it?
How do I prevent it?
Please see pic below and thanks in advance for any help.

Diatoms. Perfectly normal and expected in a new setup. They'll go away on their own.

just a normal cycle!

Poor candy canes tuffing out a cycle..

i've actually created a new product to help deal with this stuff.... its really simple. you just add 1 drop a day for 2-3 weeks and it'll clear it up completely.

Please do tell

I'm gonna guess, and I hope I don't infringe on any patents, that this is simply a 30% solution of time suspended in DI water. lol

False. It's 31% and it's actually RO DI water

Coincidentally, I have those ingredients. Will try it out and hope it works! Lol

so close.....

No you don't! I have special water. And my time goes at 1.2x faster

oh Marko.....lol

Steve

I just read your quote on my other post with your offer to quarantine.

1.Do I need to do this if:
the water parameters are staying consistant
It wasn't a new tank, just a transfer with prob 50% new water.
2.I was sold 4 orange spotted turbo snails yesterday to supposedly clean this up. In 2 1/2 days, they haven't come out from under the sand. I fished one out to make sure he was still alive. Was I sold the wrong snails?
3. Is the running joke here reffering to using distilled water as opposed to tap water?

No the joke is that it's normal and all you have to do is wait. It goes away on it's own

It sounds like Babylonia Snails to me, I have a few of them. 4 of them probably won't make a massive impact on your sandbed unless your tank is small. Diatoms will work themselves out after they've consumed the available food, should balance out. Moving a tank disturbs the sand and kicks up a lot of stuff usually which will cause a mini-cycle.

Personally if you want a good sand surface cleaner look into a few conches, they're my favourite for cleaning up.

Thanks for the help. Where can one find a conch in Edmonton?

as noted, this will go away all on its own in time

not required or recommended to buy commercial products to accelerate the process, use a turkey baster if it gets really heavy or way to unsightly

some people throw a frozen shrimp in the tank to help get things moving.....leave it in the tank until it is gone

Really? Chop it up or put in whole? And how will this work for algae? Do they just suck up the junk as its decomposing? Won't this lead to nitrate spikes?

I wouldnt recommend putting the shrimp in as you already have fish in the system....

Steve