Play sand in a reef tank

by **fihsboy** » Mon Jul 06, 2009 2:14 am

Cyno aka red slime feeds directly on silica. you will know within a week or two. :)

by **jnelson1983** » Mon Jul 06, 2009 3:36 am

Ok... but do I have to worry about it killin the fish at all? or would that risk come from any chemicals or whatnot that are on the sand itself?

by **saltwaterpimp** » Mon Jul 06, 2009 3:59 am

"Cyno aka red slime feeds directly on silica" Do you have readings to back this up ? From what i understand Nitrate,phosphate,lighting and ph are common sources for cyno. Your playsand will be fine, and your going to get your normal cycles of all algaes no matter what Substrate you use.

SWP

by **fihsboy** » Mon Jul 06, 2009 12:51 pm

In the oceans, diatoms are silica limited in some natural settings (like the polar regions and the Sargasso Sea, where the ambient silica concentration is less than 1 mM (0.06 ppm SiO2).11 There have also been many cases where eutrophication of natural waters has raised nitrogen and phosphorus levels to the point where silica has become limiting,12 even when it was not limiting in pristine waters. In reef tanks, where nitrogen and phosphorus are often not in short supply, it makes sense that silica could be limiting. In case you were thinking that silica limitation to diatom growth is necessarily a good thing, there are drawbacks. The limitation of silica, inhibiting the growth of diatoms that would otherwise take up the limiting nutrients nitrogen and phosphorus, has even been implicated in blooms of cyanobacteria.1

http://advancedaquarist.com/issues/jan2003/feature.htm

by **fihsboy** » Mon Jul 06, 2009 1:02 pm

Directly, it feeds diatoms....which we all know makes a complete mess out of our tanks. I HATE diatom blooms. I was reading where play sand comes with diatoms in it....no matter how much you rinse it. But a little bit of silica is a good thing.......HUGE amounts is bad. fish corals and sponges all use it, so its good to have. And play sand will dissolve silica faster than anything, so thats why you end up with brown and green algae covered sand, because the algaes eat it up

In short.... its safe to use yes....thats all im going to say.......its safe.

by **Tmercier834747** » Mon Jul 06, 2009 5:26 pm

In freshwater situations because of the fine quality of the sand it can become very compacted (particularly when over 2.5" deep), and stranded detritus can form aerobic pockets within the sand which decay over time and can eventually release deadly amounts of sulfur gas into the water column. I'm not sure if this plays a threat in SW but I can't imagine it doesn't if there is nothing present to stir the sand top to bottom.

I've witnessed this in a tank with flourite black sand where detritus seeped down around a piece of wood submerged in the sand and when I pulled it out large amounts of sulfur bubbles rose to the surface. Thankfully it seemed to gas off fast enough so that no harm was done..except to my sense of smell.

by **fihsboy** » Mon Jul 06, 2009 8:24 pm

Same thing in salt.....thats what a DSB is famous for. Which it is a good thing for reefs.

by **saltwaterpimp** » Mon Jul 06, 2009 8:25 pm

"The limitation of silica, inhibiting the growth of diatoms that would otherwise take up the limiting nutrients nitrogen and phosphorus, has even been implicated in blooms of cyanobacteria.1 " Call me a dumbass but this states nothing about cyno directly feeding off silicates, But they do fuel Diatom..Do you have any other info proving this ?

swp

by **Snowboss4492** » Mon Jul 06, 2009 10:13 pm

by **saltwaterpimp** » Tue Jul 07, 2009 1:05 am

Here is a great article on cyno,RHF can make your head spin, this should be easy for everyone to read...Even you boss;)

TMERCIER here is one on sandbeds,Im lazy also (don't feal like typing) lol.

http://forum.marinedepot.com/Topic59558-13-1.aspx

Play sand in a reef tank

31 posts • Page 2 of 4

Play sand in a reef tank

31 posts • Page 2 of 4