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So the past few months have been a little aggravating, to say the least. The tank went into an ugly mode with some olive drab hair algae, the nems pretty much closed up and I couldn’t keep any CUC alive for some reason. I knew something was going on but after looking at parameters that were in the norm, I sent off for a water test. The test results came back with decent results except for one element called Vanadium. The acceptable range is 2-10 and mine came in at 9,267!!
I did some research and the likely culprit for this is the black sand that I put in to get that nice contrast look with the rock and nems. It sounds like not all black sand is bad but this particular brand is metallic and is leaching out that element. https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...fbf9790968.jpg
I’ll be removing it today, doing a water change and maybe leave it bare bottom for now. I’ve always wanted a bare bottom tank but I know it will limit my CUC. 🤞🏼
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Quick update. 99.99% of the black sand was removed. I did a 15 gal water change and my nems have opened up again. I think I’ll give this bare bottom a try and see how it goes. The plan is to do a few more water changes and send off for another water test next month 🤞🏼
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Over a year but everything is doing great. Swapped out the skimmer, added a hang on fuge and replumbed for a manifold. Anemones have been splitting. I also swapped out the 2 pairs of clowns for a harem of dirty dozen Occelaris.
The bare bottom has worked out great. The 2 powerheads keep any detritus flowing up and out into the overflows.
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