sand bed crash??

[wld1783]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15286639#post15286639 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by MrPike
Im not sure how your flow is designed, but sometimes a powerhead will fall from its mount and be aimed at the sandbed. It can really mess up the tank, the sandbed can then crash the tank.

Hurricanes do the same thing...Something is off if that causes a tank crash.

How deep and how old of a sand bed are we talking about?

Do you have lots of life in your sand? Micro fauna, Nassarius snales or Tiger Tail Sea Cucumbers?

Bill

 

[ctenophors rule]

i'm not sure the nassarious snails and tiger snails will do anything to a bed that deep, ive collected hundreds, never found them digging.

however while digging i will find bristle worms, bamboo tube worms, brittle stars, and other miscelaneour stuff i doubt you could through the aquarium trade( oh and i think heart urchins dig well)

anyway all of the three above you should be able to get, through a whole bunch in and see what happends.(throw them in right by th glass so you have best chance of seeing how deep they are digging.

hthcistttwi, hope this helps cuz i spent the time to write it.

 

[MrPike]

Hurricanes do the same thing...Something is off if that causes a tank crash.

So a powerhead liberating hydrogen sulfide into the aquarium is good/beneficial because its natural?

I am at a loss, please explain.

 

[chads 385]

low ph

low ph

I appreaciate all the responses. Heres the deal everything is testing fine Nitrates 0 Phosphates O. The sand bed is only 2" deep. Just a low PH. I did try opening the windows and that seemed to help raise it, but I can't leave my windows open all the time, thats just a temp fix I still need to find the problem. Has anyone had a problem with a low PH due to a sand bed crash? I just don't want to rip my tank apart alot of the sand is under my rock and some of my corals are giant colonies im afraid of losing.

 

[MrPike]

The window trick was only to test and see if its excess C02 in your house thats causing it. If you noticed a difference, then its probably that and not the sandbed, although the sandbed could be contributing.

Can you run your skimmer air intake to the outside? That might help.

 

[chads 385]

low ph

low ph

I thought of running the skimmer intake outside but i was afraid that in the winter the air would be to cold and heavy and could affect the skimmer.

 

[robexcoral]

i heard alot of people have that problem and they just went bare bottom

 

[ctenophors rule]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15321036#post15321036 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by robexcoral
i heard alot of people have that problem and they just went bare bottom

if the sand was placed for function, or better yet, aesthetics, which i believe it was, than a SSB would be better than a BB

anyway, i just found an awesome solution to your problem.

other than syphoning a small layer of sand off every week, try adding some razor fish.

the lfs got some in today. they are a wrasse, i wasn't aware that you could get them in the aquarium trade, and first saw them on blue planet. these fish will dive into the sand bed head first at full speed when they feel threatened, and you can imagine how much sand a school of those fish would move around.

i would add like 10 of those, give it a try.

and hopefully they wont sdtir the and so much that too high of levels of hydrogen sulfide that i would imagine is built up in the bottom of your tank would escape and kill all of your fish.

i know the sentence will make no sentnce the first time you read it, give it another try, good luck!!!

 

[chads 385]

low ph

low ph

thanks for all the tips. I have been giving it alot of thought and I think I will just slowly suck it out over a period of a month or so. I always ran a bare bottom before on my smaller tanks and never had a PH problem.

 

[aurora]

If you have a deep sandbed and want to clean it, you should vaccum just the top 2-3 inches, IMO. If the sand in the bed is as fine as you say it is, it's unlikely that detritus will have collected in the deeper layer. If you want to remove the bed then you can suck out everything slowly over time. However, if you want to keep the bed in the tank, maintaining it by gently vaccuming just the top layer is adequate. Are you asking for advice on removing the bed or maintaining it?

 

[aurora]

BTW,

I've only heard of anecdotal reports of sand bed crashing but have never seen it myself. As far as I know, I haven't seen evidence by anyone that can attribute their "tank failure" solely to a sand bed "crashing". I keep hearing people reporting deep sandbed as a "time bomb". I keep a deep sand bed for the past 7-8 years in my 300G system with just Southdown sand and have not had any trouble attributable to the sandbed. When my tank decline, I can tell you it's my own damn fault. It's either not keeping up with maintenance or letting my parameter stray too far from it's stable values. BTW, I haven't "hydroclean" or done anything to my sandbed in about 8 years. Maybe, that why I don't have a problem with it.

 

[SPSpirate]

IMO..if your going to do a DSB..have very good flow..and the right flow for the kind of corals and fish that you have in it..have efficent clean up crew..keep parameters stable and let the ecosystem do the rest..shouldnt be any reason to clean a sand bed of any depth as long as its a healthy and thriving system. DSB's are a great idea..