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.

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. 🤞🏼