Siphoning gravel practice "sps substrate care"

[brad65ford]

Ok guys who does this religiously and does it cause any negative effects once you do a cleaning (disturb the substrate). Reason i ask is I'm tired of running a BB sps tank (need a change) so I want to jump back to some type of sallow coarse coral type of substrate. A side from thinking of the best rock scape I'd love to hear some of the guys that have been doing this practice and there success.

Thanks in advanced,
Brad

 

[bobkill]

I clean the substrate every time I water change or once every two weeks when I clean the class - isk why but I started doin it from day 1 and now cont too- I started it bc I have a giant skylight above my tank and I was getting lots of algea since I have added a shade tarp and no more algea but cont to clean sand bc .....? Lol

 

[Guygettnby]

I clean my substrate once a week when I do a water change. I do it in sections though and have never noticed a problem. I know in the past I had one of my tanks crash from moving some rocks around to try and catch a fish I was gettin rid of. But just siphoning the substrate gently has never caused me an issue. Been doing it for years and keep in mind that I don't have a deep bed. Nothing past 3in.

 

[rodneyri]

when I do my weekly water change I rake the gravel, SPS love it and have huge PE for a few hours afterwards.

I have done this since day 1 on the tank

 

[epicurus84]

I have a verry fine shallow sand bed and i keep it in at all times. I got one sand sifting fish. And one start. And its as white as possible (just the rubble that looks awful that i remove from time to time).

 

[clowndude]

I clean mine every time I do a water change. Also to keep it clean looking in between changes I have two orange spotted diamond gobies. They are machines I must say and do a great job. I'm a little OCD when it comes to dirty looking sand.

 

[jasimek]

I have never cleaned my sandbed. I have a diamond goby also and the sand is pure white in my 90

 

[jscarlata]

I starred doing this as well, the first time I did it I only did 1 section at a time per water change until the whole tank was cleaned. Thereafter I do it every 2-3 water changes, I don't have a lot of sand and I have a good bunch of nassarius large and small that keep things clean, also there are a bunch of big bristle worms that get the big stuff. Had a fish die while I was away last winter, i never even saw a bone or a fin or anything.

 

[brad65ford]

Thanks guys for all the input, now don't be shy I want to see these systems and how well they are flourishing. Post'em up boys!