What do you guys do to clean your sand?

[DJasak]

I've been doing some reading and watching some videos on cleaning sand and have heard of reverse under gravel filters, using clean up crews, turning over your sand, siphoning out your sand during your regular water changes, and the list goes on. I've heard that if you don't clean your sand bed that eventually down the road you can start to have problems with your tank or even have it crash. So what do you guys do? I already have a clean up crew, I was told before that fighting Conches are awesome sand cleaners, and that you want to get oxygen down into your sand. Right now I gently siphon the top portion of my sand but I try not to kick it up and make my tank all cloudy so I keep it to a minimum when I'm doing this. Also, this might be a myth but when I siphon my sand I'm afraid I'm filtering out the good bacteria in the sand and by doing this I'm causing mini-cycles to happen in my tank. Is this something to be concerned about or am I just freaking myself out?
Thanks

 

[joshbrookkate]

I have good luck with lots of nassarius snails, 2 conchs and a diamond watchman goby in my 75g.
Michelle

 

[heathlindner25]

I use a gravel vacuum when I do water changes weekly, and I hit the bottom glass with it.

 

[powderblue1]

sand sifting stars and bullet gobies here. nassarius snails are good too as stated.

 

[DJasak]

I was going to get a sand sifting star but was told that they actually deplete both the good and the bad in your tank so they actually are doing more harm than good. Same with sand sifting gobies.

 

[Psychomantix]

what kind of sandbed do you have? How deep is the sand?

 

[Monte26]

I have a 1 inch sandbed and vacuum the sand once a month. I also have nassarius snails and love em!

 

[Ebone]

I like to call it my dang diggin pistol.... he makes sure all sand in my tank is relocated on the daily and things stay in suspension!

 

[Psychomantix]

With 1" sandbed, vacuuming should not cause any problems. You can keep vacuuming it every month if you like. I feed fairly heavily and have a large bioload, so my sandbed gets nasty pretty fast, hence I vacuum every week during waterchanges. CUC and sand-sifters can turn over your sand, but IME you will eventually need to suck some of that junk out of your tank. But, like I said, I'm a heavy feeder with high biolaod so your experience may vary.

 

[Rhygar666]

I use a gravel vacuum when I do water changes weekly, and I hit the bottom glass with it.

this, also i got alot of nassarius and cerith snails(if my hermits havent killed them all).
my sand is maybe 1-3 cm.

 

[thelawnwrangler]

Only in a month an half but I vacuum with water change

Actually a little annoyed put rocks to close to glass in some places.

 

[Baccara]

I rake the top 1" or so of my sand bed every other week when I do water changes. I have a sand sifting star and a decent cuc but I just like to agitate the surface to get any loose detritus stirred up and skimmed out.

 

[CStrickland]

what kind of sandbed do you have? How deep is the sand?

This.
The deeper the sand, the greater the risk of harmful stuff. Pockets of hydrogen sulfide are common in sand deeper than a few inches and can be a real problem if released. Samsies, deeper beds can accumulate more nutrients, exacerbating the risk of a mini-cycle if upset. Otoh, there's not much risk in disturbing a shallow (aesthetic) bed, the bacteria can take it.

Maintenance on 1-3 inches is a totally diff process than 3-up. IMO a lot of confusion stems from advice to vac that doesn't specify care with a deeper bed, or advice to avoid disturbance that is really only on point for dsb's.

 

[DJasak]

I have nassarius, astrea, and turbos. Also have a couple Tongan snails (I think that's what they're called anyway) various hermits and pink pin cushion urchin. I'm thinking about picking up a brittle or serpent sea star, another urchin(blue tuxedo), a linkia star(red), a couple emerald crabs, another cleaner shrimp (love fire shrimp) and a sand sifting goby (really like the blue cheeks & pink spotted) and fighting conches. Might be over doing it with that big of a crew but I also have a big bioload and am constantly fighting to keep the sand looking nice. As far sand bed depth I'd say it's about 1.5" - 2" deep. What kind of siphon do you guys think works best? I was thinking about picking up a python or one of those gravel vacuums so I can control how strong the suction is so I don't loose so much sand, right now I use a traditional siphon with a primer bulb in the middle and I find that I get a lot of sand getting pulled up thru the siphon and getting stuck in my primer bulb rendering it useless, as well as getting into my five gallon bucket which then goes down the toilet.

 

[WaReefer458]

A conch , sifting starfish, and a diamond goby keep my sand bed pretty clean in my 40

 

[pyithar]

a black cuke(holothuria atra) and a tigertail cuke(holothuria hilla). these two are only cuc that i put in my tank. the rest are hitchhikers.

 

[johnike]

4 Gobies, and a big black cucumber.

 

[kyle.nagel13]

Also, this might be a myth but when I siphon my sand I'm afraid I'm filtering out the good bacteria in the sand and by doing this I'm causing mini-cycles to happen in my tank. Is this something to be concerned about or am I just freaking myself out?
Thanks

The beneficial bacteria in our tanks grows on/attached to surfaces, it is not suspended like detritus or other particles that accumulate in a sand bed. So, unless you are removing the majority of your sand while vacuuming it, you aren't hurting anything with a shallow sand bed.

 

[DJasak]

Thank you guys! I have a 45. Is what I have listed overkill for a tank of my size? Nassarius snails, astrea snails, turbo snails, tongan snails, 2 fighting conch snails, various hermits, 2 emerald crabs, 1 brittle/serpent sea star, 1 pink pin cushion urchin, 1 blue tuxedo urchin, red linkia, and a blue cheek sleeper goby?

 

[WilRams]

Besides a CUC that stirs the sand bed I have a little plastic take from a kids toy set that I comb through the sand right before every water change.