help please! algae over growth

[torrid_07]

hi, i have been trying to get rid of this brown algae growth in my subtrate.
all my levels are perfect and i cant get the stuff to go away!
ive put in phosguard and its cleared up the water quite a bit but it still accumulates in my sand.
any ideas?

[whatcaneyedo]

How long has it been there? How old is your tank? Have you recently done anything to disrupt your system? What are your water chemistry parameters like? Do you have anything to stir or move your sand around?

I get slime/algae outbreaks like what you're describing each time I re-aquascape. If your tank is healthy and mature it should go away on its own in time.

[Myka]

All nuisance algae are caused by excess nutrients, period. Sometimes it takes quite some time for a tank to mature to the level where all the nutrients can be processed. High quality live rock is key to better nutrient processing.

The PhosGuard would help (and did), but a stronger product would work better. Any of the rust-colored products are better than the white products.

It's really difficult to try to guess why you're getting this algae issue (could be diatoms or dinoflagellates from the description), so your best bet is to take a read through the algae link in my signature and come back with some questions after that.

[torrid_07]

yes i have a sand sifting star, crab, shrimp and some snails. and they dont seem to do too much. should i mix up the sand? get particles to flow through the filter?
ive thought of getting a couple of shrimp gobys mabye?
but yes my ph ca nitrates and nitrites are all good.
my specific gravity is a little on the high side.
would that do it?
and other than the inverts i only have 4 fish so its not like i have a huge load.
im not sure really what to do now.

[Neilmcg]

I used to have a similar issue. I found putting 2 conchs in my 120 kept the sand looking great. Other sand dwellers should also help.

[torrid_07]

hmm ok well maybe i can try a couple of conches as well as some other phos. remover
if anyone has any other ideas, shoot it my way please!

[Myka]

How big is your tank? How old is it? What fish are in it right now? What type of skimmer, if any? What types of foods (for coral and fish) do you use and how often?

Oh, and don't stir the sand. That would release the nutrients caught in it, and can actually crash the tank. UNLESS, you just stir a little bit of the sand each day. Sand sifting gobies are great for sandbeds, but you need a fairly large tank in order to keep them from starving to death as many won't eat prepared foods.

Did you read the link in my signature? Lots of ideas there... *hint*