Cleaning sand bed

[Titobattilocchi]

I'm upgrading my tank here in a couple months and going to go with 0 sand. How hard is it to clean and what is the best ways to clean it. Any help would be grate full, thanks

 

[cloak]

I would just fill a 5 gallon bucket about halfway up with sand. Get the garden hose and turn it all the way up. Use the hose, along with the water pressure to flush out any dust or debris. Once the water starts to overflow the bucket clear, your set.

 

[Titobattilocchi]

Sorry my post is very vague. What I meant was how hard is it to clean once it's in the aquarium, as far as vacuuming it or other meatheads to clean the sub straight.

 

[Mr. Limpid]

you never want to clean your sand bed.

 

[forextrader]

You are about to get a million answers and a few angry folks trying to prove that their way is the only way! Each method has its own pros and cons, but when it comes to sand beds there are three main methods. 1) no sand is easy to maintain and you can use lots of flow! You will need different equipment to help remove the nitrogen cycle products. 2) less than four inch sand bed or large particle sand bed is pleasant to look at and is relatively easy to maintain. It will not produce much support for the live rock and will not support much bacteria life. Will need some equipment to help remove nitrate. 3) Deep sand bed is at least 4 inches of fine sand. Takes up valuable space and many people do not like the look. If various live sand critters are introduced you will never have to worry about any of the nitrogen cycle products, including nitrate. It provides great support for live rock and requires no maintenance.

 

[Titobattilocchi]

Iv never had a sand bed more than about 2 1/2 inch. I have a 0 sand mixed with 1 about a 50/50 mix but wanted to go with 0 so the cucumber I get later won't have a problem with shifting the sand. Not sure if 1 gage is two big or not. I have a couple of months to make up my mind until the new tank gets here. Just wanted to here what people have to say so I can try and decide what way I would like to take this new tank in. Current tank doing awesome just might want to try something different. Thanks for the replies

 

[cloak]

Sorry my post is very vague. What I meant was how hard is it to clean once it's in the aquarium, as far as vacuuming it or other meatheads to clean the sub straight.

No worries.

I wouldn't treat your sand bed any differently than you would the gravel in a freshwater tank. (with an UGF) Once a month, (preferably right before a water change) just use your finger, a stick, or a small powerhead & stir the whole thing up. Siphon out as much of the muck as you can. Piece of cake.
Running a filter sock for a few hours to polish the water will also help. GL.

 

[Sugar Magnolia]

you never want to clean your sand bed.

True if it's a deep sand bed. For a shallow sand bed, syphoning a portion of it every once in a while gets rid of a lot of excess detritus.

 

[Mark426]

Shallow bed... I just stir about 1/4 of it with a stick before each water change. Deep bed....leave it alone other than a light vacuum of the surface every so often.

Deep beds in anything but a HUGE tank look bad. If you want a DSB and don't have a huge tank, it belongs in a fuge. My 2 cents.

 

[Titobattilocchi]

What size do you consider huge tank. Upgrading from 120 to a 300 Deep tank.

 

[KCombs]

I use a coarse net (green) followed by a finer blue net....change socks 2-3 times and voila'

 

[SDguy]

I use an old school gravel vacuum on the sand in my FOWLR. Works like a charm. It's not a DSB. Sorry, I don't know the grade of the sand, but it's not super fine.