vulkum
09/03/2002, 09:09 PM
ok heres my story.
about a month ago i set-up a new nano tank and just after putting in like 1 1/2 of live sand from my old reef tank a friend who just got back from costa rica came over for a couple beers. he said he had this black sand that he brought back and if i wanted it he decided not to use it. well i thought it would look kinda kewl in the tank so i put about a 1/2" ontop of the aragonite sand. well about 2 weeks later i added a 150w HQI over the tank and slowly started getting an algae bloom that i have been battling. i figured due to the new tank syndrom and the high intensity lighting was leading to the algae. well tonite i got some padding for my magnet and started to clean the glass with it when i tried to turn the corner of the tank the magnet fell to the sand, and had a few spots on it. so i pulled it out so as not to scratch the tank and noticed that the sand was like metal shavings on a magnet. i took off the padding and put the magnet on the bottom of the tank and imediatley the thing filled up with sand. i'm wondering if anyone has ever heard of this and what are the ill effects? it must be metal which can't be good in a saltwater tank. also is this the main reason for the algae bloom? my topoff water is reading like 6ppm and everyhting else is in check with the exception of a low alk reading. i figure i could remove everything(i hate to disturb it all) and use the magnet to try and remove all the sand.
let me know if anyones ever heard of such a thing and the pros cons of having it in the tank
thanks
aaron
about a month ago i set-up a new nano tank and just after putting in like 1 1/2 of live sand from my old reef tank a friend who just got back from costa rica came over for a couple beers. he said he had this black sand that he brought back and if i wanted it he decided not to use it. well i thought it would look kinda kewl in the tank so i put about a 1/2" ontop of the aragonite sand. well about 2 weeks later i added a 150w HQI over the tank and slowly started getting an algae bloom that i have been battling. i figured due to the new tank syndrom and the high intensity lighting was leading to the algae. well tonite i got some padding for my magnet and started to clean the glass with it when i tried to turn the corner of the tank the magnet fell to the sand, and had a few spots on it. so i pulled it out so as not to scratch the tank and noticed that the sand was like metal shavings on a magnet. i took off the padding and put the magnet on the bottom of the tank and imediatley the thing filled up with sand. i'm wondering if anyone has ever heard of this and what are the ill effects? it must be metal which can't be good in a saltwater tank. also is this the main reason for the algae bloom? my topoff water is reading like 6ppm and everyhting else is in check with the exception of a low alk reading. i figure i could remove everything(i hate to disturb it all) and use the magnet to try and remove all the sand.
let me know if anyones ever heard of such a thing and the pros cons of having it in the tank
thanks
aaron