CStrickland
New member
I read the autocorrect fail as "apostate" and had a chuckle over the converts to vac'ing in this thread
Sand Bed Vacuum Test - Phosphate Liberation?
- Thread starter LouH
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I read the autocorrect fail as "apostate" and had a chuckle over the converts to vac'ing in this thread
My sandbed was about 5 years old. My sps stopped growing and so did the corraline. I also had uncontrollable phosphates, and a massive hair algae bloom. No matter how often i changed my GFO it would creep back up. I ended up siphoning out my entire sand bed. A few months later now and my phosphates are around .04-.06 and the Hair algae is all but gone from a few spots. What nice about having no sand is that i can use a powerhead to blow my rocks off once a week and then siphon out all the crud that collects at the bottom of my tank. Its amazing how much detritus comes out every week. I miss the sand but my tank is much more manageable with out it.
Osteoclast
New member
I have a 1-2 inch sand bed. I try to siphon it with each 2 week water change. I think it helps me overall in reducing nutrients. It is part of my routine and sometimes is not discussed well. Prior to the water change I take time to clean the glass. I also skim, run carbon, a little GFO, dose vinegar, and use a UV. I adopted it after seeing successful tanks using the method up and running for years. Certainly others have excellent tanks without resorting to the siphon but I do mind it and it only takes a few minutes extra time to do. I am always amazed by how dark the collected water is.
SS_Sean
New member
Okay... did part of the sand, as previously posted, and then hit the rest of the sand the next week. I've seen no ill effects from this. I had to dose lanth to get my phosphates down, and will check again on Wed. I'm going to incorporate this into my maintenance/upkeep routine. I also did a lights-out treatment for cyano, and seem to have that under control. Frankly, the tank has never looked better, and my params are all within spec. Thanks for the suggestion, guys!
edward1096
New member
Mixing up the sand bed weekly is a really good idea to get rid of all the waste that builds up in your tank. I would recommend for any size tank followed by water change.
dmh8801
New member
Cleaned my sand with a canister filter
Cleaned my sand with a canister filter
After getting fed up with fighting algae I said screw it and vacuumed every bit of the sand bed I could get to with a canister filter. No water changes (other then the gallon or so I lost while dumping out the filter).
I connected my siphon to a canister filter and the outlet went back in the tank. (The canister had a couple types of filter media in it.) I siphoned the sand all the way to the bottom of the tank. I would leave it in the same spot until clear water flowed through the siphon and the sand looked clean. The places I couldn't get to with the siphon, I would blow with the outlet hose of the filter with the siphon close by. I made three passes through the tank doing this.
I did this yesterday. While doing it the tank was a cloudy mess. Three hours later everything had cleared up and our corals were starting to perk back up. Six hours later, the corals looked great. Today I come home from work and the tank looks better than it ever has!:bounce3:
I have to say, I did start running GFO and carbon about two weeks ago with just a little effect. Cleaning the sand bed was like a night and day difference.
I'll report back on how things go from here.
Cleaned my sand with a canister filter
After getting fed up with fighting algae I said screw it and vacuumed every bit of the sand bed I could get to with a canister filter. No water changes (other then the gallon or so I lost while dumping out the filter).
I connected my siphon to a canister filter and the outlet went back in the tank. (The canister had a couple types of filter media in it.) I siphoned the sand all the way to the bottom of the tank. I would leave it in the same spot until clear water flowed through the siphon and the sand looked clean. The places I couldn't get to with the siphon, I would blow with the outlet hose of the filter with the siphon close by. I made three passes through the tank doing this.
I did this yesterday. While doing it the tank was a cloudy mess. Three hours later everything had cleared up and our corals were starting to perk back up. Six hours later, the corals looked great. Today I come home from work and the tank looks better than it ever has!:bounce3:
I have to say, I did start running GFO and carbon about two weeks ago with just a little effect. Cleaning the sand bed was like a night and day difference.
I'll report back on how things go from here.
Last edited:
CStrickland
New member
I would expect some immediate perking from coral just due to stirring up detritus. They love that stuff.
I hope the good results continue long-term.
I hope the good results continue long-term.
I take care of about 8 tanks for friends and people I have met through work. When I started out caring for tanks there were some filthy tanks. Some sandbeds had an inch thick layer of crap on top. I needed to vacuum it. So I started really light just a little at a time only do part of the tank. Bullcrap. It's all myth. Finally after playing with it. I just vacuum the heck out of them now. Everytime I see a new tank I don't care if it's 1 or 3 inches thick I vacuum it. All the way down. It has never hurt a single thing. It has only made it better. My sandbed at home has always been fairly clean so I never felt the need to vacuum it. But I started doing mine. It helps. All tanks I look after are saltwater. Some with skimmers and without. All different types of setups and livestock.
Don't just stir it. Vacuum it. Kick your skimmer on high make sure it's working good and go to town on that sand. If you don't have a skimmer get one first. A good one. Vacuum your sand. Your tank will appreciate it
Don't just stir it. Vacuum it. Kick your skimmer on high make sure it's working good and go to town on that sand. If you don't have a skimmer get one first. A good one. Vacuum your sand. Your tank will appreciate it
Pipefitter533
New member
this is very good point and the way i am going thx
I strongly agree.
I strongly agree.
I am fortunate. When I started this hobby my son was already 10 years into the hobby so he helped me with several items I would have struggled with. One of his first suggestions was to put in a course sand. Reason: it's heavier, so during a vacuum it tumbles in the vacuum tube releasing all of the detritus ( poop ) while the sand falls back to earth. I actually use a small tube for tight areas and a big tube for the main field. I have a 90 gal with lots of rock so I can only vacuumed the outside edges as I can reach. I'm guessing I get 35% of the bed at best. But what I do vacuumed is like milk coming out of the same. The longer I wait the worse it is. For the remainder of my bed I keep 2 sand sifting cucumbers that help a lot. I have to be carful when I go digging with my small tube so I don't hit them. The sand creates its own ecosystem, stuff that eats and stuff that rots. I call it a compost bed. It's like changing the sheets on my bed. I can't see it, but it's there. Like a second hand smoke or a drive in farm country, fish don't like it either. Poop is poop. Get it out.......
I strongly agree.
I am fortunate. When I started this hobby my son was already 10 years into the hobby so he helped me with several items I would have struggled with. One of his first suggestions was to put in a course sand. Reason: it's heavier, so during a vacuum it tumbles in the vacuum tube releasing all of the detritus ( poop ) while the sand falls back to earth. I actually use a small tube for tight areas and a big tube for the main field. I have a 90 gal with lots of rock so I can only vacuumed the outside edges as I can reach. I'm guessing I get 35% of the bed at best. But what I do vacuumed is like milk coming out of the same. The longer I wait the worse it is. For the remainder of my bed I keep 2 sand sifting cucumbers that help a lot. I have to be carful when I go digging with my small tube so I don't hit them. The sand creates its own ecosystem, stuff that eats and stuff that rots. I call it a compost bed. It's like changing the sheets on my bed. I can't see it, but it's there. Like a second hand smoke or a drive in farm country, fish don't like it either. Poop is poop. Get it out.......
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