does anyone vac there sand

[gaz81]

just wondered if you guys vac your substrate, was thinking about doing with this water change. is there any good products out,not just a syphon so i can do it anytime not just with water changes

 

[Electrobes]

Not sure of this is helpful, but I have a gravel based reef tank. I used to gravel vac via siphon but recently bought the Eheim Gravel Vac. I really love it but know it will "dust up" the tank while using it. It's battery powered but well built. I use it once a week, but not with water changes, I do that separately.

 

[gaz81]

with the eheim can it be used at any depth.,my tank is 3 foot deep. i see a lot have depth and volume restrictions or does that not really matter.

 

[shesacharmer]

I vacuumed the top layer of my sand when I had a diatom bloom. I don't routinely vacuum. I do stir the top layer and clean the glass just before a water change. I have many Nassarius snails to do the deeper stirring and cleanup the sand bed.

 

[gaz81]

yeah i might go the natural way with snails only have hermits atm.i can't find anything powered that will go that deep anyway and syphoning is a pain in the arse

 

[cloak]

You will always be much more efficient at keeping a sand bed clean than any CUC will ever be. Vacuming the substrate on a regular basis is definitely a good practice to get into IMO.

If you don't want to vacume, you might want to think about using a small power head to turn the sand bed over on occasion. (right before a water change) A siphon can only go so far, whereas a power head knows no limits. You'll be amazed at how much crap can accumulate UNDER your rocks. GL.