Dumb question- Cleaning Sand bed

mickeym · 01/17/2008, 10:03 AM

in my last SW tank, i used crushed coral for a bottom-
I used a tank cleaner-tube vacuum thing. No problem, the coral was too heavy to get sucked into the vacuum.

How do you clean the bottom of sand-bottom tank (get rid of any algae down there) without sucking all the sand into the vacuum?

This is a new tank, so I know the first few months, there will be signs of some nuisance algae....

Thanks!

kzickovich · 01/17/2008, 10:22 AM

Just do it lightly on the surface. The deeper you go into the sand bed the more sand you will suck up. When I do mine I get about a cup of sand out, I just rise it and place it back into the tank.

rustybucket145 · 01/17/2008, 10:28 AM

How deep is your sand?

mickeym · 01/17/2008, 10:35 AM

Its not a Deep sand bed, just enough to cover the bottom.

OK, nice to know that I wont suck it all up.. This is literaly a brand new setup...

Thanks!

harryk · 01/17/2008, 12:22 PM

why would you want to vaccum the sand bed. Your not really supposed to be disturbing the sand bed. you can get snails that will keep it clean for you if it's deep enough. Every time you disturb the bed you release nasty stuff, ammonia, and other nasty stuff. I would just leave it alone

dileggi · 01/17/2008, 02:23 PM

I was thinking just the opposite, and maybe I'm wrong. I thought Sk8r or someone posted a thread on this a week or so ago. I was under the impression that it's OK to disturb your sandbed...(minimally, of course), as long as it wasn't a deep sand bed, meaning over 5".

As for releasing the anything back into the water column, I was under the impression that even though it's realed back into the water column, it's technically denitrified, if that's the correct term. Meaning, you may test positive, but it's not in toxic form.

Can anyone confirm any of that?

spike78 · 01/17/2008, 02:26 PM

Yeah,

If you have a shallow sand bed, less than an inch, you should have no problems vacuuming, stirring or sifting it. From my understanding, at that depth, you don't have anoxic denitrification happening in the bed to produce anything toxic

01/17/2008, 10:03 AM	#1
mickeym Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Fairport Posts: 98	Dumb question- Cleaning Sand bed in my last SW tank, i used crushed coral for a bottom- I used a tank cleaner-tube vacuum thing. No problem, the coral was too heavy to get sucked into the vacuum. How do you clean the bottom of sand-bottom tank (get rid of any algae down there) without sucking all the sand into the vacuum? This is a new tank, so I know the first few months, there will be signs of some nuisance algae.... Thanks!

01/17/2008, 10:22 AM	#2
kzickovich Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Zion Il Posts: 959	Just do it lightly on the surface. The deeper you go into the sand bed the more sand you will suck up. When I do mine I get about a cup of sand out, I just rise it and place it back into the tank. __________________ Ken Current Tank Info: 90 Gal mixed reef 55 Gallon basement pump up Sump 25 Gal fuge 2 Mp40 DIY led light fixture Bubble King Mini 200 Gen2 skimmer BRS Duel reactor

01/17/2008, 10:28 AM	#3
rustybucket145 Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: valdosta, ga Posts: 3,707	How deep is your sand? __________________ 400gals of various tanks in the same system. Current Tank Info: 2 175w MH, 2 VH0 Actinics, Lots of Live Rock, tons of copepods, a Fat Mandarin Goby, Niger Trigger, Yellow Tang, Falco Hawkfish, Bi-Color Pseudo, numerous soft, SPS and LPS Corals

01/17/2008, 02:23 PM	#6
dileggi Premium Member Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: S. Philly PA Posts: 1,171	I was thinking just the opposite, and maybe I'm wrong. I thought Sk8r or someone posted a thread on this a week or so ago. I was under the impression that it's OK to disturb your sandbed...(minimally, of course), as long as it wasn't a deep sand bed, meaning over 5". As for releasing the anything back into the water column, I was under the impression that even though it's realed back into the water column, it's technically denitrified, if that's the correct term. Meaning, you may test positive, but it's not in toxic form. Can anyone confirm any of that? __________________ Eric "The greatest trick the Devil ever pulled, was convincing the world he didn't exist." - Usual Suspects Current Tank Info: 90g w/30g sump; skimmer; 2x175w MH & 2x super white actinic...3g w/.5g fuge 1x150w MH Viper

01/17/2008, 10:35 AM	#4
mickeym Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Fairport Posts: 98	Its not a Deep sand bed, just enough to cover the bottom. OK, nice to know that I wont suck it all up.. This is literaly a brand new setup... Thanks!

01/17/2008, 12:22 PM	#5
harryk Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: New Jersey Posts: 262	why would you want to vaccum the sand bed. Your not really supposed to be disturbing the sand bed. you can get snails that will keep it clean for you if it's deep enough. Every time you disturb the bed you release nasty stuff, ammonia, and other nasty stuff. I would just leave it alone

01/17/2008, 02:26 PM	#7
spike78 Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Seattle Posts: 420	Yeah, If you have a shallow sand bed, less than an inch, you should have no problems vacuuming, stirring or sifting it. From my understanding, at that depth, you don't have anoxic denitrification happening in the bed to produce anything toxic