Gravel maintenance

hobby38y · 03/25/2008, 11:20 AM

I have a 120 gallon that has been set up for about 5 years I have always fought nitrates and have a question about maintaining the gravel.

I have 3 inches of CC on the bottom of the tank and when I vacume the gravel I only vacume the top 1/4 to 1/2 inch at the most. My thought process on this was that I had a DSB but reading a lot in the last couple days and now realize that I really don't have a DSB.

So my question is should I be vacuming the gravel all the way through to the glass?

If I should be vacuming all of the gravel then how do I get from where I am now to where I should be? IE do I start by doing a 1/4 of the tank and letting it sit a couple days then do some more ect. or do I just do the whole thing?

One more question is 3 inches of gravel on the bottom too much too little?

Any help will be greatly appreciated.

kevin2000 · 03/25/2008, 11:26 AM

Unless you have a predator tank (which are dirty tanks and require extraordinary cleaning) I would suggest you remove the CC and replace with a finer sand substrate. CC is a hold over from FW tanks with undergravel filters and tends to harbor debris which in turn will create chronic nitrate issues .. further a smaller grained substrate will tend to hold significantly more beneficial bacteria as well as be friendlier to the infauna which help clean up your substrate.

IslandCrow · 03/25/2008, 12:45 PM

Agreed. At the very least, I'd get rid of some of the gravel. 3 inches is (as you're seeing) just too tough to keep clean.

Aquarist007 · 03/25/2008, 12:51 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by IslandCrow
Agreed. At the very least, I'd get rid of some of the gravel. 3 inches is (as you're seeing) just too tough to keep clean.

I agree also, replace it with a medium grade argonite but don't vacuum it. Rather use a turkey baster and lightly baste the substrate with it --that puts all the detrius back into the water column where it can be filtered out and doesn't disturb the life there

here is an interesting read on how the sand bed works:

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2003-0...ture/index.php

03/25/2008, 11:20 AM	#1
hobby38y Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Alamogordo nm Posts: 13	Gravel maintenance I have a 120 gallon that has been set up for about 5 years I have always fought nitrates and have a question about maintaining the gravel. I have 3 inches of CC on the bottom of the tank and when I vacume the gravel I only vacume the top 1/4 to 1/2 inch at the most. My thought process on this was that I had a DSB but reading a lot in the last couple days and now realize that I really don't have a DSB. So my question is should I be vacuming the gravel all the way through to the glass? If I should be vacuming all of the gravel then how do I get from where I am now to where I should be? IE do I start by doing a 1/4 of the tank and letting it sit a couple days then do some more ect. or do I just do the whole thing? One more question is 3 inches of gravel on the bottom too much too little? Any help will be greatly appreciated.

03/25/2008, 12:45 PM	#3
IslandCrow Reef Monkey Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Rockledge, Fl Posts: 5,759	Agreed. At the very least, I'd get rid of some of the gravel. 3 inches is (as you're seeing) just too tough to keep clean. __________________ All opinions in the above message should be taken with 35 ppt salt. -Mike C. Current Tank Info: I have a reef screen saver on my phone, does that count?

03/25/2008, 11:26 AM	#2
kevin2000 Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Portland, Oregon Posts: 3,805	Unless you have a predator tank (which are dirty tanks and require extraordinary cleaning) I would suggest you remove the CC and replace with a finer sand substrate. CC is a hold over from FW tanks with undergravel filters and tends to harbor debris which in turn will create chronic nitrate issues .. further a smaller grained substrate will tend to hold significantly more beneficial bacteria as well as be friendlier to the infauna which help clean up your substrate.