Is this good advice from the LFS?

Mikro

Premium Member
I was told to periodically siphon the gravel during water changes. He went as far as to say I should move the live rock around to get to all of the areas.

I used to siphon the gravel when I first started the tank and had only a few pieces of live rock. Now the bottom is nearly all rock.

Does siphoning all that gravel (and disturbing it) sound like a good idea?

Thanks...
 
no not at all a good idea that could get you into big trouble lets talk about the nitates and ammonia you would be stirring up
 
He must be used to freshwater tanks. Unless you want to disturb your coral and/or fish and stir up all the filth, I wouldn't. Just get a good cleanup crew.
 
yea dont move the sand to much it holds dormant bacteria that you dont wanna release into your system. If u want to clean your sand more try a sand shifting star and nass snails. or a diamond goby
 
wow i siphon the gravel weekly and it has never been a problem i really cant keep a cleanup crew because they all are just food for my wrasses and get eaten rather quickly .my tanks sparkle and in close to 20 years i have never had a problem cleaning the sand bed . boy i must really be behind in the times on this one ,how did i miss the boat?
 
I siphon my SSB from time to time with a gravel vacuum, amazing all the detritus that gathers with time;)
 
i hear you on that one ,am i going crazy? i have ALWAYS siphoned my sandbed as part of my water changes ! must be something i'm missing here ,did i read it wrong?
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14834289#post14834289 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by airdog67
why are sand sifting stars bad?

Some will eat the small, beneficial lifeforms found in the sand.
 
unless you have a real deep sandbed, i would ALWAYS gravel vac your sand bed. Don't have to move rock, but i gravel vac my tank once a month.
 
A properly maintained DSB can be vacuumed if it is done regularly and in sections to not eliminate microfauna. Gravel should be vaccumed regularly but is better off removed IMHO
 
Mikro posted the question but it never mentioned DSB ,how did we get there ? yes the sandbed should be cleaned regularly by siphoning .
 
The reason not to vacuum a DSB is because there are anoxic areas that have hydrogen sulfide that can be released which could cause harm to the livestock.


The key to a DSB working is the slightly anoxic area where denitrification occurs, if you disturb this with vacuuming, you are rendering that area useless. While it can be done, I would never recommend disturbing more than just the very top layer of a DSB and that is where most of the detritivores are found.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14834659#post14834659 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by iamwrasseman
Mikro posted the question but it never mentioned DSB ,how did we get there ? yes the sandbed should be cleaned regularly by siphoning .

NO substrate thread can go far w/o a DSB coming up :D
 
All 3 of my tanks have 2-3 inch sandbeds, with each weekly water change I gravel vac the sandbed. I have been doing that since 1992, and my tanks haven't crashed from it.

And like Nanook said, I get a good amount of detritus each time.
 
it's interesting to look at the yes's vs. the no's and the join/experience dates

from personal experience with FOWLR tanks with larger gravel sized substrate regular gravel vaccuming really helps to keep down the nitrates/detritus
 
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