Genius way to clean your sand!

[Kengar]

I’m still in process of setting up so not sure how well this is going to work, but I am setting up with a perforated plate supported 1 inch above bottom of tank. Substrate will be spread across top of it. Closed loop pulls from back wall of tank and returns water up through bottom of tank into this under-substrate chamber. Water will flow up through substrate to lift detritus up and into water column, to be removed by filters in sump (pair of ClariSea automatic roller filters).

 

[Lilly45nano]

I came across this video the other day. Kind of a long video for what it is, but I think it is worth the watch! I don't want to spoil it. Not sure if this is common knowledge but I thought it was a great tip. Let me know what you think?

Thank you for the share! Definitely going to try this .
Question ...the guy spoke about washing the felt sock in the washing machine? Anyone do that and how please.

 

[Philipgonzales3]

Thank you for the share! Definitely going to try this .
Question ...the guy spoke about washing the felt sock in the washing machine? Anyone do that and how please.

I do this, I bought like 8 socks. Once around 4 of them are dirty I turn them inside out so that anything like food, detritus, etc can be washed away easier. I throw them in the washer and set the washer to do an extra rinse cycle. Many people use bleach, but never use laundry detergent or any other type or soap.

I'm not using bleach yet but I may start to if my socks become discolored.

 

[Philipgonzales3]

Then let air dry. Allow 48 hours or so to air dry if you used bleach.

 

[John Burke]

Then let air dry. Allow 48 hours or so to air dry if you used bleach.

Use hydrogen peroxide and you don't have to let dry.
I do wonder about the ammonia being released into the water column when vacuuming the sandbed this way. Any thoughts?

 

[Hemmdog]

I do this, I bought like 8 socks. Once around 4 of them are dirty I turn them inside out so that anything like food, detritus, etc can be washed away easier. I throw them in the washer and set the washer to do an extra rinse cycle. Many people use bleach, but never use laundry detergent or any other type or soap.

I'm not using bleach yet but I may start to if my socks become discolored.

If your not using bleach/peroxide and you used a microscope your socks would be full of stuff. You have to kill all that stuff on your socks. It may look perfectly white but it’s not clean, I assure you.

 

[Lasse]

I’m still in process of setting up so not sure how well this is going to work, but I am setting up with a perforated plate supported 1 inch above bottom of tank. Substrate will be spread across top of it. Closed loop pulls from back wall of tank and returns water up through bottom of tank into this under-substrate chamber. Water will flow up through substrate to lift detritus up and into water column, to be removed by filters in sump (pair of ClariSea automatic roller filters).

Reversed flow undergravel filter. I have use this method for my remote DSB for 2.5 year now. Works well. If you use this method - do not rinse your sand the way described in this thread

Sincerely Lasse

 

[ramona]

Lasse, I have a small tank with RUF and crushed coral as substrate, how would you recommend to keep it clean?
Thank you.

 

[MURedhawk]

Nice idea for cleaning sand. I have an Eheim battery operated vacuum stick that can clean sand with a mesh netting. That works pretty well too, but with the siphon hose and filter sock that everyone likely has it is just as easy and cheaper.

 

[Philipgonzales3]

If your not using bleach/peroxide and you used a microscope your socks would be full of stuff. You have to kill all that stuff on your socks. It may look perfectly white but it’s not clean, I assure you.

Well my nitrates are only at 5ppm, but good tip. I'll pick up some bleach today. Better to be safe than sorry I suppose.

 

[Philipgonzales3]

Use hydrogen peroxide and you don't have to let dry.
I do wonder about the ammonia being released into the water column when vacuuming the sandbed this way. Any thoughts?

I'm pretty new to the hobby but I had freshwater with a sandbed before. My though if there is really heavy ditritius do it in sections. If you keep up with it then there shouldn't be that much detritus to cause issues.

 

[Kengar]

Reversed flow undergravel filter. I have use this method for my remote DSB for 2.5 year now. Works well. If you use this method - do not rinse your sand the way described in this thread

Sincerely Lasse

Oh of course not! The whole point of the configuration is to avoid need to do things like that! And having run several large systems over the years and seen the absolutely disgusting MUCK that is in the sandbed when moving/swapping out tanks, I knew I had to do something different with this build.

Here are some pix. (Rock is some real live rock picked up at Aquatic Technology https://www.aquatictech.com/ in Ohio (350 mile drive......) a month or so ago. One of the only places in the country where still available, at least for now. But see http://www.livestockusa.org/UPDATES.html






There are half-inch strips of glass on top of the bottom Eurobracing, and 1" acrylic cubes distributed across the bottom of the tank for support. perforated plate is 1/8" perforated PVC (available from U.S. Plastic). Actually a double layer, with the two layers shifted slightly with respect to each other to close of the holes a little and prevent substrate from falling through, and spot welded together with PVC cement. White disk you see is attached to the perf plate to overlie the inlet back into the tank, so that returning flow doesn't blow a hole in the substrate right above it. Hose leads from center of back of tank down to floor to pump; pump return T's off to feed the two inlets at opposite ends of the tank.

 

[Lasse]

Lasse, I have a small tank with RUF and crushed coral as substrate, how would you recommend to keep it clean?
Thank you.

for me - it is not a question to keep it clean - it is a part of the biological system and stabilize my whole tank.

Sincerely Lasse

 

[Philipgonzales3]

If your not using bleach/peroxide and you used a microscope your socks would be full of stuff. You have to kill all that stuff on your socks. It may look perfectly white but it’s not clean, I assure you.

Does it matter what brand of bleach I buy? I bought a jug of generic bleach for $1.88. The Chlorox was $3 and half the size. Usually I'm horrible at spending money and going for name brand stuff but I figured bleach is bleach yeah?

 

[Hemmdog]

Does it matter what brand of bleach I buy? I bought a jug of generic bleach for $1.88. The Chlorox was $3 and half the size. Usually I'm horrible at spending money and going for name brand stuff but I figured bleach is bleach yeah?

Doesent matter just not scented

 

[Lasse]

Why does Americans always wants to nuke things? To use bleach in or near a biological system - is only a big NO-NO for me. Bleach can form chlorinated organic products that both are bioavailable and bioaccumulative. If you aim to kill everything - use H2O2 - it will not form any harmful residues - only water, oxidized products and oxygen - it will only kill present generation - not the next

Sincerely Lasse

 

[Philipgonzales3]

Why does Americans always wants to nuke things? To use bleach in or near a biological system - is only a big NO-NO for me. Bleach can form chlorinated organic products that both are bioavailable and bioaccumulative. If you aim to kill everything - use H2O2 - it will not form any harmful residues - only water, oxidized products and oxygen - it will only kill present generation - not the next

Sincerely Lasse

So based on my reading their are 3 or 4 different methods that people use.

1. Pressure washer or pressurized water in general.
2. Bleach in washer with an extra rinse and let dry 2+ days.
3. Hydrogen peroxide in washer.
4. In washer with no bleach or hydrogen peroxide.

I'm still trying to decide myself but it seems that all 4 options work long term for many people. Another one of those many ways to reef things. There were a few posts, that if I understood correctly showed that bleach just turns organics like algea white, while hydrogen peroxide actually breaks it down.

Honestly I don't think it matters all that much but I think I will switch to either hydrogen peroxide or just water. One or the other.

 

[oldfishman]

I used the python on my old 300 gallon and loved it. Never thought I could use it for my reef. I have everything I need except the sock. I will try this next month. Thanks for a great idea

 

[Philipgonzales3]

Thanks again.

@mmw64

So it turns out the hose on the 1" diameter tube is smaller than the hose on the 2" diameter hose. I thought this may be the case and sure enough it was. Not a big deal to me. I just inserted the smaller hose into the extension and put the extension in my filter sock. Extension works fine for the 2" tube.

Suction is a less on the 1" diameter tube than the 2" tube. A little underwhelming but I'm pretty happy with it. Works pretty well at accessing hard to reach spots that would otherwise not get cleaned.



This is how I inserted the smaller tube into the extension. I held it with my left hand while I held the tube with my right hand.

 

[Joe Batt]

5ppm No3 is fine. I try and keep mine at least at that and even higher. Even the fussiest of SPS don’t have a problem with it there.

In my opinion this ULN fad has caused more tank crashes and failures than it has solved.