sand bed cleaning y or no

[reefer_newbie]

i think you should go for smaller vaccums of your sandbed...it helps small amount of sand to turn over...Or some lawnmowers (like diamond goby etc) might do it for you as well

 

[kg221]

My two tiger gobies keeps my sand white as can be in my 90 gallon so I figure I'm just going to do water changes.

 

[tangtang clown]

125 Reef and Fish
I had a diamond goby that was on the small side, and even with egg crate covering the back of my canopy, he still made it out. He kept the SB nice and clean so NTS I am waiting on a bigger diamond goby. Anywho, I have had a lil cyano on my sand and rocks for the last six months and my nitrates have been 20+ for the last two years. I do regular water changes, and that never really put a dent in the nitrates. I recently starting vaccuuming my SB and it was amazing how much brown "stuff" came out of the sand. The first time I cleaned the SB I did my entire water change, 30 gallons, into a five gallon bucket. When I finished I had about 2" of sand in the bucket. I plan on using SW to rinse the sand clean and then put it back in the DT. I test the nitrates Saturday and they were nonexistent. Not sure if is due to cleaning the SB, but I think I will continue doing so.

Cheers.

 

[ant-elp]

try the website with bob goemans, salt corner, to understand what the bacteria are actually doing in your sand bed ,high nitrate and its reduction will be prolonged if the sand is disturbed,ammonia and phosphate,detritus are usually the culprit,fueling algae,good luck,ant

 

[gweston]

I'd recommend more reading before adding sand sifter sea stars. They require live food which means they eat the other sand fauna that help break down the detris in your tank. Then they starve.

I have had a single sandsifter star for ~6 months now. It is an -excellent- sand bed turner. It will eat left over food from the fish (frozen and flake primarily), but I find I have to supplement its diet with pellets. I use a mix of formula 1 and 2 pellets. It takes very little, but it needs to be kept fed if enough isn't hitting the sand. I just scatter pellets around and the star will find it. Pods grab a bunch of them, so the star doesn't get everything.

If you have too many, yes, I suspect they could starve. My guess.. <100 gal 1 star. <200 gal 2 stars. But that is purely opinion and not based on any real data.

If it doesn't get enough it will hide away and potentially die buried somewhere. You can see if it is undernourished or sick if you see it's legs begin to decay/shorten.

I wouldn't rule out a sand sifter star, but keep an eye on it and make sure it is healthy. Supposedly they can be spot fed if necessary, but I have never tried.

LOL just had a silly idea. Maybe superglue a little flag to it's back? May make it easier to find the thing if it is hiding somewhere. OK, maybe not.

 

[carlosR]

Why would you want to clean your sand? It seems that if you have some CUC going and the natural biological activities it's pointless? Do water changes and/or filtration and it should be fine.

 

[DoubleM 10]

It's really funny that this came up because I was always mad that my clarkii clown would shake his tail in the sand and eat some of the pellets or mysis he missed during initial feeding. Then the tank is cloudy for about an hour and then he will do it again the next day lol. He's my sandbed cleaner lol

 

[debatecoach]

Out of curiosity, how does siphoning impact the worms, mini-brittle star, pod populations?

Interesting thread...

 

[elegance coral]

Why would you want to clean your sand? It seems that if you have some CUC going and the natural biological activities it's pointless? Do water changes and/or filtration and it should be fine.

We clean the environment we keep any pet in. Why would we not clean the environment where we keep some of the most environmentally sensitive creatures that exists? You wouldn't keep a dog in a pin with a sand bottom, allow it to defecate in the sand, allow "biological activities" to deal with the animals waste in the sand, and expect the dog to remain healthy. If you don't clean the bottom of a bird cage, insect larva and microbes will begin living there and feeding on the birds waste. Much like pods and worms in the sand of a filthy reef tank. "Biological activities" have absolutely no chance of keeping the bottom of a bird cage, dog cage, hamster cage, or reef tank clean. There is nothing magic about reef tanks or sand beds. If you add food, or anything, to the tank, it will always be there in one form or another, until it is removed.

 

[NaClH2Opgh]

Well my bed varies from 1.5"-2.5" and my diamond goby is constantly turning the top 3/4". Should I still vac that top 1/2" during water changes?

With the proper cuc you shouldn't have to touch it. I broke down a 75 gallon in June that had a 6 year old DSB in it. I NEVER cleaned it once in those 6 years. The cuc and goby did a spectacular job.