My Tanks Sand Base!

[gordi]

i have abit of a problem going on inmy aquarium atm never used to do it but all of a sudden has! i have a 4ftish tank which houses my 7" oscar and a few smaller chichilds (sp) also in there i have alot of large rocks from the river and a sand base! cleaned the whole thing out last week so it was spotless and this week the sand has gone green why does it does this! also the side of the glass becomes dirty n green! i leave the lights off all day and close my blinds so the sun aint directly on the tank!!

any hellp appreciated! if theres nothin i can do im considering just getting shot of the sand and having a glass bottom

 

[mbhw]

It's simply algae growing on your glass and sand.

Two things make algae grow - light and food. Cut back on the lighting - natural or electric, and scrape the glass and turn over the sand periodically.

 

[SJ2K]

Keep nitrates down also, this is algaes food, keep it low with plenty of water changes (provided your tap water isnt high in nitrate).

 

[gordi]

if i went bak to just a glass base would the tank look rubbish? havent really seen any on here with just a plain base

 

[backtotropical]

The most probable cause of your algae is that you have stirred up the sand releasing ammonia into the water column. This can be a huge algae trigger.

Try to avoid stirring the substrate to avoid it happening again in future. What about the dangerous gas pockets forming in the sand you ask? Well, actually, they're not as dangerous as you might think. Read about it here!

All the waste should just sit on top of your sand, and you can hoover it up from there. No need to disturb the sand too much.

Hope this helps.

BTT