Sand Issue

[redpyro]

My sand is a little red in color and isn't loose. A bit stuck together and almost hard when you push on it.

Whats the deal? Here is a pick

[tekknoschtev]

Looks like cyano to me. We have the same thing going on and are taking several steps to cure it, incuding RO/DI water, and LIGHT feeding.

[redpyro]

i use ro/di and i feed only every other day

[tekknoschtev]

I'm still very new to this (started our first real SW tank in February) but right now, we alternate between tap and ro/di (dont have a unit yet, so if we need to do a water change and are our of RO/DI from the store we use that) and we feed Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and only feed what the fish can eat in 5 minutes or less. We still have the problem on and off. The best way to get rid of it, suck it up with a turkey baster, or similar, and then do a fairly large water change (25%). That has helped our tank keep it under control.

[marinelife]

is it not to much calcium causes the sand to clump, more flow, adding carbon, ozone or strong skimming will help with the red algae