water changes

[tricky23]

i have 120g reef/fish tank thats been running for 5 month now.Do i vaccum sand bed or leave it alone?there's alot of bubbles under the sand also.do i need to stir up sand?

 

[Aliie]

I vaccum my sand when I do mine. Mainly to give it a fresh look again.

What do you have in your tank?

 

[zoomfish1]

I try not to disturb my substraite. I have a fine arragonite though. If you stir the sand, you're likely to stir up nitrates and other bad stuff. If you feel it necessary to vac the bed, only do the very top layer. That way you will leave the micro fauna and other bacterias alone.

 

[frederickk]

I would only change the water and not disturb the sand like said above you may end up with more nitrate.

 

[tricky23]

hey thx for the quick reply Aliie i have a total of seven fishes if u include my lil goby and for corals i have frogspawn,hammer head,and alot of polyps ..oh almost forgot my anemone for the maroon clown..reason why i ask if u vaccum sand when doing water changes is because some body told me not to cause you'll suck out beneficial bacteria while doing so

 

[frederickk]

That guy was right on.

 

[Aliie]

Well as you see you'll get both sides of any answer to every question. I go deep into my sandbed and others would never do such a thing.

I like your list of corals and critters. When you get a chance make sure you post some pics to share. Also if you have a question...if you can ever provide a pic it always helps.

Is your sand just bubbled or is it encased bubbles? I had a red alge problem once that started that way and I and very cautious to keep my sand clean now.