Can I siphon a SSB?

[hoyta]

Hello all! I am kinda new to the whole sand-bed thing. I was considering a dsb for awhile, but then changed my mind after reading for awhile. I like the look of sand, so i went with a shallow bed, about .5-1" of sand. Is it ok to siphon this during water changes? Thanks alot!-Adam

 

[stuccodude]

ive done it, i had some food on the bottom that no one would eat and not knowing i just covered it with sand and nitrates went off the scale so i siphoned alot of sand out, good luck

 

[luntiz]

Just siphoned out the left side of my tank to make it a SSB like an hour ago, everything looks great, except my sand sifting goby looks lost now...

 

[drummereef]

Yes, siphoning a sandbed that is less than an inch is fine. Stirring is preferred, but if you need to siphon it won't hurt anything.

 

[tdchicago]

i have 90lbs of sand. I usually stick the vacuum in the sand bed while doing water changes to remove any junk, and I stir it up pretty well to keep it white.

I fear the ammonia gas below the sand bed, but I have not killed anything yet.

When the sand is in the bucket, I pour it back in, and use a baster to remove it from my live rock.

Works ok so far....