brown sludge?

Question
Hi Gerry,

So many things come up with saltwater I have you loaded with questions. Now I have this brown slimy sludge stuff in my sand. It kind of looks like thin brown sheets and when I stirred up the sand it all broke into pieces. What is it, and what do I need to to?

Thank you
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Followup To

Question -
Hi Gerry,

Thank you for your prayers. I think that is what made me feel better than anything else. Well he didnt make it, but thank you for your help. As for the clownfish, I tried putting them back together- didnt work. I split them up and tried once again- didnt work.

Well the thing I wanted to ask you this time is about changing tanks. I got a 54gal corner aquarium for my birthday :) I will be transfering all the sand (26lbs), water (25gal), decor, and filter media to the bigger tank. The new stuff I will add is 20lbs live sand, and 10lbs of 'dead' sand :). I will also need to add an extra 25gal 'new' water to the bigger tank. Is the bigger tank going to have to cycle again or am I ok?

Thank you for everything.
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Answer -
Hello again Rosa,

    First of all I want to thank you for your recomendation and kind words. Now to your new tank. How exciting, and happy birthday. To minimize the cycling process is your goal, so take half to three quarters of the water and transfer to your new tank. Hook up heater, pump, filter but only operate heater with an airstone for water movement. Take scoops of sand and add very gently to new tank, slowly lowering scoops of sand into new tank. Make sure when you are moving sand and live rock in buckets it is covered with tank water so the bacteria will not die off and cause a major recycle all over again. We are going to treat this like your present tank just grew to over 50 gallons and we are just adding water to the system. Prepare your new water in advance so when you add it to your system it will be kind of like you are doing a 40% water change. After adding the sand and live rock let it all settle down and turn on your pump and filter system. Let the water circulate and then start adding your creatures from the other tank which now still has about 5 gallons of water in it. This will be time consuming but just step back from the project a little and look at what you have to do and the order in which you have to do it and take your time. If you keep everthing submerged in tank water - sand, rock, etc. it should not have a die off which would start the cycling process all over again. Even if you mixed you tank water with 30 to 40% new water just to keep every thing submerged that would probably do okay. Buy a couple of clean 5 gallon buckets to help with the transfer from old tank to new. I have a couple of inexpensive heaters to put in "new water" buckets to maintain temperature while I am seasoning the water. If you want to add the sand first you would take your creatures to their temporary holding vessel because if you take the sand out of your old tank while still having water present it will become clouded with residue from the sand. You then put a dinner plate on top of the sand in your new tank and you pour the water on to the dinner plate thus not disturbing the sand. Sometime lowering the sand in, when water is present, is too time consuming and does cause some delay while you are waiting for it to settle. I would transfer your fish to a small tank or bucket and after new tank is up and running you can drip tank water into the bucket, for acclaimation purposes, until it doubles and then add the rest of your water with your creatures and you should have a pretty smooth transition with a minimum of cycling. Keep checking the water every other day just to make sure everthing remains stable. Anything else please contact me. I might have forgotten something so if you have any questions I will try to help. Good luck and remember, patience. Gerry.       P.S. The amount of sand you mentioned may be a little too much. You only want a bed of about 2". Better to put more live rock than sand.

Answer
Hi Rosa,

    It sounds like a form of algae. Is this happening in your old tank? The way to get rid of it is not to stir it up but to vacuum it out with one of the many siphon vacuums available. They are inexpensive and if you use them slowly and carefully they will suck the algae out without disturbing the rest of your tank. Have you checked your nitrates? If they are high they can cause excess alae growth. Do you remember the about.com, saltwater site I asked you to go to? They have some special articles and solutions for all major algae types. You are right by knowing there is a lot more to saltwater than meets the eye. It took me over a year to feel relaxed about the state of my ecosystem, but it has all been worth it. Remember, try not to be discouraged. You are trying to duplicate a vast, natural undersea world in a very small, closed, and confined space. The ocean changes very little, your system can go through changes in 24 hours. That is why you have to stay on top of things until the system ages and things become stable. Talk to you soon, gerry.