cleaning sand?

[Fredrik Andersson]

Hello!
Is it at good idea to soak up 3-4 cups of sand, clean it in tap water and let it dry for a few days before placing it in the tank once again?

I have som difficulties with high nitrate levels in my tank and looking for improvments in my cleaning process which is mainly changing 10 % of water every week.

I have a 30g tank.

 

[SurfTrack]

How long has your tank been set up?

 

[Coralreefer1]

I would not clean your sand as you are killing beneficial bacteria and other benthic flora and fauna. This ultimately will produce the opposite result your looking for in reducing nitrates. Reduce feeding and add carbon plus water changes are ideal.
You should never have to clean your sand, in my opinion. If need be, you might want to add a powerhead to increase water flow to the substrate area to keep detritus and food stuff suspended in your water column for your skimmer or othe filtration device to remove.
Try adding more CUC to aid in maintaining a clean sand bed.
I employ a deep sand bed to reduce nitrates in my tank. I have a bed of aragonite that is 4-5” deep. This way I can grow aerobic and anaerobic bacteria in and on my sandbed.

 

[Fredrik Andersson]

Okok then I wont clean it anymore. I just took up like 2 cups so I hope the damage is limited. H've been running my tank for approx 3 months now.

I was planning to do a 50 % water change this weekend but of course I ran out of salt

 

[SurfTrack]

This is a very controversial topic.

I replaced my entire sandbed and it fixed a ton of my issues.

 

[cgdcinc]

IME vacuuming my sand bed every water change works for my tanks. Once a month schedule. I definitely don’t think you should pull it and clean it in tap water.
If you try vacuuming, I would start with small sections at first until you get it all. Then do the whole thing on a schedule after that.
I only have about 1 1/2” to 2” of sand.
As stated above, this is a very controversial subject. I just follow the cleaning programs of some of the tanks I have seen and love that people have had set up for years.

 

[cracker]

I think it'a good to rinse sand,depending on how long it's been in there . If You remove a section at a time no big loss to the critters living in it . it quickly reestablishes itself . then ya do another section. This remove all the detritus that builds up creating nitrates . Now I agree with @ Coralreefer if using a deeper sand bed. I vacuum the sand in my 180 & bare in the 75 reef . I was amazed at all the gunk trapped in my sand bed .

 

[cromag27 Verified Sponsor]

the issue is with fish waste settling in your sandbed. some tanks have high enough flow, and powerheads angled just right, to keep waste suspended in the water column until it dumps into the overflow. if the flow is not adequate, the waste will collect on/in your sand. that’s why some people have to vacuum their sand and some do not.

if you’re having issues with po4 and no3, there are much more efficient ways to help out. feeding less, larger water changes, etc.

 

[davocean]

3 months is still pretty new, it's going to have some issues usually at that stage.

I'm curious what your filtration is and what test kits you are using.

Usually I do not disturb a DSB, shallow can usually be vac'd, but you should not need to take sand out and rinse it, and I especially would not do that w/ tap water