Cleaning my sand bed, Please help!

[Nick32]

Hey, i've noticed that my sand bed has quite a bit of detritus and I would like to remove it. I found a product that cleans and filters gravel beds....

http://www.marinedepot.com/ps_viewItem.aspx?IdProduct=EH3531&u
tm_medium=mdemail&utm_term=mdpromo090320Prd4&utm_campaign
=mdpromo&utm_source=mdpromo090320&utm_content=mdpromoPrd
4090320

Do you think this would work? It filters the detritus that is sucked from your gravel bed and puts it right back in the tank. Is there any risk associated with this? Thanks.

 

[rlee81indy]

I really wouldnt waste the money. The best thing I have found is to use a turkey baster to blow water at the sand to mix up the first 1/4 to 1/2 inch. I have even stuck the turkey baster into the sand in bad spots to blast it good. When you mix it up like that your filtration will just take out the bad. Normally after I mix the bed, I wait until the water is clear again and then I hit the rocks. If you do this a couple times a week, you will see a noticable difference in 1-2 weeks.

 

[thegrun]

You can siphon up a small section of your sand bed each time you do a water change, then wash the sand, strain it with an old nylon and put it back in the tank. I wouldn't do more than a 1/4 of your tank at a time.

 

[chimmike]

your CUC should be taking care of this..........

 

[Nick32]

Whats a CUC?

 

[Nick32]

I would really just like an easy way to remove the detritus, My tank is a peninsula style, so it can be awkward to clean the gravel bed. My 10% water changes to not give me a great oppurtunity to clean the gravel. I thought this product would be a good way to clean the gravel without having to remove water at the same time.

 

[JEFFR259]

CUC=Clean Up Crew

aka- Hermit Crabs, Nassarius Snails, certain starfish, etc. Basically any type of animal you place in there to take care of waste from fish, uneaten food and detritus.

 

[Nick32]

Yeah I have around 50 hermits, 50 snails, a brittl star, 4 conchs, and 2 cleaner shrimp, but their is still quite a bit of detritus...The clean up crew just went in around 2-3 weeks ago...I think it would be beneficial to remove a lot of the built up detritus by hand.

 

[jus chillin]

no,let them do there job.for alittle longer don't want to rob them of there food!....

 

[DaveMorris]

Vacuuming a gravel bed is a sure fire way to kill any beneficial life that resides in it. Cukes, conchs, nass snails, etc. are the best way to keep it clean. If you have the amount of detritus on the sandbed that you are talking about then you are probably feeding too much, too fast. If you feel that the amount of food that you are using is good, then feed it slower.

I have a 300g display tank with a cuke, tons of nass snails and a conch and my sandbed is always clean. I feed very heavy and I have 32 fish so I am feeding a lot. You cant's see any detritus in my tank, anywhere.

 

[Nick32]

I may be overfeeding...But i'll break down my fish list for you and maybe you could tell me what you think...

1 powder blue tang (5-6'')
1 yellow tang (5-6'')
1 coral beauty (4'')
2 common clowns
1 midas blenny
1 sixline wrasse
1 pink damsel
1 watchman goby (with pistol shrimp)
6 green chromis
1 long tentacled anemone
1 bubble tip anemone

I feed nori in the morning and night, a sheet about half the size of a playing card each time. I also feed a cube of frozen food once a day, but sometimes a I feed 2 cubes, one of brineshrimp/mysis and one of squid for the anemones. The food is all consumed within 30 seconds of being put in the tank. Is there any sure fire way to know if you are overfeeding?

 

[smoothdog]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14680334#post14680334 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Nick32
Yeah I have around 50 hermits, 50 snails, a brittl star, 4 conchs, and 2 cleaner shrimp, but their is still quite a bit of detritus...The clean up crew just went in around 2-3 weeks ago...I think it would be beneficial to remove a lot of the built up detritus by hand.

How many sand sifting snails are included in the 50 listed, Nassarius and conch specifically? Algae grazing snails won't do much for detritus on the sand. If anything, it sounds like you are under feeding to me and you should have a little more nutirtional variety than brine and mysis. For this small amount of food you are using I wouldn't expect much if any detritus settling on the sand, do you have enough flow across the sand bed to help keep it suspended in the water column so the skimmer can remove it?

 

[Nick32]

I have cerith, margarita and astrea snails...about 15-20 of each. I feed a lot more variety then just brineshrimp and mysis, I also feed cubes of squid, krill, spirulina, as well as flake food and rotifers. I was just trying to give an idea of quantity. I am 100% sure that the fish are recieving all the necessary nutrients. I think I mix of flow and the position of my skimmer may have something to do with it. I have a fluval FX5 and a hang on skimmer. I think I need to get a sump.

 

[smoothdog]

Good to hear on the food. The snails you have won't really clean the sandbed, they'll stick to the rock and glass. I'd pick up 6-12 nassarius snails depending on the size of them.

Do you have any power heads at all? With just that filter and a hang on skimmer your flow rate is only bout 10X the tank volume. I'd be shooting for 20 to 40X depending on what kind of corals you are keeping or plan to keep. Canisters can work if you are a stickler for maintenance and clean them out every other day, but if you don't it will cause you more problems than it's worth. I'd consider trading/selling it for a sump/refugium.

 

[luther1200]

I use a gravel vac every week when I do my WC. I have been doing this from the begining. I have very little detritus and a very active sandbed. It doesn't harm the snails or anything if you accidentally pick them up in the siphon. It is a gentle flow. Useually the snails are to heavy anyway, but the tiny stars and things like that just fall back down once they get picked up.

 

[Gdevine]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14680688#post14680688 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by DaveMorris
Vacuuming a gravel bed is a sure fire way to kill any beneficial life that resides in it. Cukes, conchs, nass snails, etc. are the best way to keep it clea.

Really? Please provide the validation for such a statement. Honestly, is this a personal statement or something you can refer to as a tested fact?

Beneficial bacteria can reproduce at incredible rates and if one syphoned half their tank one week and the other on the second they'd be more fine...and have a clean tank to boot.

 

[smoothdog]

Gdevine, I think the point DaveMorris was trying to make was that by vacuuming the sand bed you are sucking out the beneficial creatures such as worms, pods micro-stars... also, if a DSB is used then stirring the bed will not allow the aneroebic bacteria to get established. I think like most things in this hobby it comes down to what works for you. If you vacuum and it works do it, but you will have to vaccum regularly since every time you do it you will be removing the creatures that keep the sand bed stirred and healthy. I personally keep a DSB and vacuuming would kill the aneroebic bacteria layer so I use flow and a sand cleaning crew to keep my sand bed clean.

 

[Nick32]

Can't anerobic bacteria create some nasty toxins that can get stirred up and released into the water? I lost an entire tank to this. I stirred the sand bed too much and the fish all died...I make a point now of keeping my sandbed as clean as I can.

 

[jasonrp104]

Only if you go too deep. I'll siphon my dsb once in a while but I never go deeper than 1/4 to 1/2 "

 

[smoothdog]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14687037#post14687037 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Nick32
Can't anerobic bacteria create some nasty toxins that can get stirred up and released into the water? I lost an entire tank to this. I stirred the sand bed too much and the fish all died...I make a point now of keeping my sandbed as clean as I can.

Did you notice a strong (sulfur) odor when this happened? If so, then it's likely your sand bed had become anoxic. In a functioning DSB the sand sifters keep the substrate loose and small amounts of oxygen make it to the bottom layers preventing these dead zones. Here's a good article on the subject: http://www.aquaristsonline.com/blog...one-of-the-most-effective-filtration-methods/

Also, if you choose to siphon to keep the sand clean make sure the sand bed is 1 1/2" or less deep. This will limit the amount of nutrients that can be trapped in the bed and prevent it from becoming a nutrient sink.