Vacuum sandy or just siphon it out

[Tecdiverfl]

I have been having a nasty time with phoshates in my 180. Someone suggested it may be my sand. It is atleast 7 years old. I decided to vacuum it and was disgusting what came out. I am wondering how effective it is or would i be better just siphoning it and replacing it. Other question is do I need live sand as the tank is loaded with fish and live rock?

 

[Jpugh73]

Look at the thread that is still going about dsb. I think its call (6 year old dsb you wont believe your eyes)really alot ofreally good info. A good read

 

[rps3]

Get rid of it IMO. People are starting to just use more LR, tiles, and other forms of removing fish poo and stuff. LOL

 

[AquamanE]

That thread is a good read for people with DSB. I prefer a thin layer for aesthetic reasons and stir it occasionally.

 

[ocean82]

I love sand it gives it a real feel of ocean. Starting with a thin layer is good, but most importantly is having the right specimen to clean it. A pistol shrimps with a goby is a good start.

 

[saltym3]

I'm in the same boat and my sandbed is of the same age and have battling phosphates as well.

 

[Lacy]

I vacuum my sand bed occasionally. I do sections of it at a time and a good cuc helps.

 

[saltym3]

Do you guys just vacuum the sand surface or go all the way to the bottom of the bed?

 

[sawlty dog]

whatever you do, make sure you do it slowly over time. If you do it all at once, you risk releasing all of the hidden junk in there that can possibly crash your tank. I removed a 2" sand bed from my biocube over the course of about 3 months. Each time I would take part of the top layer and in two or three spots I would go all the way down to the glass. You won't believe the nasty junk that came out.

 

[Tecdiverfl]

Was suggested to use a PVC pipe and some hose to suck it out. By doing so hopefully not much should be released into the tank

 

[sawlty dog]

if you google "reef central sand bed forum", one of the first options that comes up is a very long discussion on what sand beds do, how they operate, etc. It's really worth the read (and it's one of the shorter ones). I read a 90-page forum discussion on the chemistry of sand beds and it's made me decide to go bare bottom. I'd post a link but I'm not sure if this is allowed or not

 

[Daimyo68]

Siphoning out slowly is the best route to take. Your SB is 7 years old, and I'm sure there are some extremely anaerobic areas in that tank. Siphoning will make sure that most if not all of that small patches you pull out, go completely out of the system, instead of releasing (hydrogen sulfide) back into into the water column, which could be devastating.

Slow and steady buddy