What do I do? 20G *Worst Sand EVER?*

[I'm Batman]

For some reason I don’t the Carribsea Indo- Pacific sand. Anyone else have experience with it?

 

I had NO problems in my 15g for 4 YEARS but when I transferred everything to the new 20g L with new sand, I could never get rid of the algae on top of algae and sponges - sad to say most of everything didn’t make the move last year, and I’ve since been just battling loads of crap. 
 

I’m not sure what these black granulars are in this sand BUT I will tell you they are magnetic, (they magnetize to the glass scrubber) and they always have algae growing on them which I can never seem to kick.
 

Add Cyano and for whatever reason and now what might be Dino’s, I’m pulling what’s left of my hair. 
 

While there’s not much in there to disturb, I worry about my clown if I replace the sand. Will the new sand cycle?

[Tamberav]

Just siphon it out with water changes then add new dry sand, wash the new sand as it will be cloudy and make your tank look like milk otherwise. 

 

Black sand looks great until it doesn't... that stuff is typically a nightmare. I believe it is volcanic rock? Some people reported weird ICP tests with it. 

[ECLS Reefer]

14 minutes ago, Tamberav said:

Just siphon it out with water changes then add new dry sand, wash the new sand as it will be cloudy and make your tank look like milk otherwise. 

 

Black sand looks great until it doesn't... that stuff is typically a nightmare. I believe it is volcanic rock? Some people reported weird ICP tests with it. 

I have the black Hawaiian sand, came as one of the arag-alive choices. It’s definitely magnetic which has been a small pain to avoid, but I haven’t had any algae issues with it. The shrimp and wrasses haven’t had issues with it either. Maybe it was just a bad batch?

[Clown79]

Black sand was the worst sand I have ever used.

 

I had so many issues with algae and nothing worked to get rid of it, until i got rid of the sand.

 

I did mine all in one day.

 

Washed new sand wish tap, final rinse adding prime to the water.

 

Nade new salt water

 

I decided to siphon out water in buckets, remove fish, coral, rocks and placed in buckets.

 

Siphoned sand out, wiped all the glass, added rocks, new sand, new water, old water saved, livestock. I had no cycle.

 

I've also removed sand during waterchanges and replaced with new.

[I'm Batman]

18 hours ago, Clown79 said:

Black sand was the worst sand I have ever used.

 

I had so many issues with algae and nothing worked to get rid of it, until i got rid of the sand.

 

I did mine all in one day.

 

Washed new sand wish tap, final rinse adding prime to the water.

 

Nade new salt water

 

I decided to siphon out water in buckets, remove fish, coral, rocks and placed in buckets.

 

Siphoned sand out, wiped all the glass, added rocks, new sand, new water, old water saved, livestock. I had no cycle.

 

I've also removed sand during waterchanges and replaced with new.

Clown good to see you sir! I’m with you hear. This gives me a little confidence to swap it out and I’m down with the garden hose bucket rinse. It’s amazing how much crap is in there although I’ve never had a problem with sand before until now. Thanks for the tip! By the way, maxi jet 1200’s are $8 on amazon right now. 

[Vhexxen]

Given the magnetic aspect, has anyone tested for iron?  Could be what’s feeding the algae so much.

 

Also, seriously, they’re that cheap in the US?  amazon.ca has them on sale for 33 😧. They’re normally almost fifty bucks.

[Tamberav]

There is Cobalt maxijets and Marineland.

 

The cobalt ones are $$$ but are much better made. Basically Marineland is Chinese and Cobalt is Italian. I have owned both and the Marinelands eventually got tossed when they started to wear out and lose power. I have the same cobalt ones for like 100 years now. 

 

$8 is cheap enough that it doesn't matter if its disposable though. 

[Vhexxen]

The reg-50 ones in Canada are marineland.  Cobalt 1200s are 78

[I'm Batman]

Hey I’ve got an update. Tested my water at the LFS for copper and got 0.30ppm. He said there’s a forum about that sand being recalled for a known copper issue from Carribsea. Any thoughts?