How do you clean sand?

[danenelsen]

He is actually probably my favorite invert in there. His face is cute and he is very cool to watch cause he is pretty fast when he wants to be

Ok! Thanks for the suggestion! They sound super cool and I'll definitely look into one!

 

[Timfish]

There are multiple way I clean sand. First is using a gravel siphon.

Next is using a straw to siphon off the top layer or algae and detritus. The sand can be tossed and osm enew sand added. It can also be cleaned and returned. The first way I would clean it is swirl it in a bucket of aquarium water with maybe 2 or 3 times as much water as sand, dump the water and repeat several time then return the sand to the system. This preserves some of the beneficial biofilms and endoliths that might be on and in the sand but get rid of the cyano and algae and detritus. A more aggressive way to clean and at least partially sterilize the sand is after rinsing out the detritus soak the sand in H2O2 for a day or so. RInse it well again as the H2O2 will loosen up a lot of stuff and let dry a day or so. This works well if only a few cups have been siphoned off.

For cleaning large amounts of sand say a gallon or two, this method I use occasionally and just about every time I move a system to help preserve beneficial stuff, aerate the sand that's been setting undisturbed for years or decades and get rid of most of the detritus and loose stuff.

I would not use a filter sock to siphon the sand into then return the siphoned water to that system. I used to do that and recommend it but after understanding the role of DOC (carbon dosing) relased by algae that can cause issues for corals it doesn't seem like a good idea. Especially after siphoning sand out as that process seems like it will break up the alga on sand releasing even more of the DOC. Here's some links you might find informative:

"Coral Reefs in the Microbial Seas" This video compliments Rohwer's book of the same title (Paper back is ~$20, Kindle is ~$10), both deal with the conflicting roles of the different types of DOC in reef ecosystems. While there is overlap bewteen his book and the video both have information not covered by the other and together give a broader view of the complex relationships found in reef ecosystems

Maintenance of Coral Reef Health (refferences at the end)

Changing Seas - Mysterious Microbes

Microbial view of Coral Decline

Nitrogen cycling in hte coral holobiont

BActeria and Sponges

Maintenance of Coral Reef Health (refferences at the end)

Optical Feedback Loop in Colorful Coral Bleaching

DNA Sequencing and the Reef Tank Microbiome

Richard Ross What's up with phosphate"

15 Answers

 

[Crabby48]

Lots of sand dwelling CUC and alot of sand sleeping wrasse. Wrasse keep every inch of the sand clean throughout the week

 

[danenelsen]

There are multiple way I clean sand. First is using a gravel siphon.

Next is using a straw to siphon off the top layer or algae and detritus. The sand can be tossed and osm enew sand added. It can also be cleaned and returned. The first way I would clean it is swirl it in a bucket of aquarium water with maybe 2 or 3 times as much water as sand, dump the water and repeat several time then return the sand to the system. This preserves some of the beneficial biofilms and endoliths that might be on and in the sand but get rid of the cyano and algae and detritus. A more aggressive way to clean and at least partially sterilize the sand is after rinsing out the detritus soak the sand in H2O2 for a day or so. RInse it well again as the H2O2 will loosen up a lot of stuff and let dry a day or so. This works well if only a few cups have been siphoned off.

For cleaning large amounts of sand say a gallon or two, this method I use occasionally and just about every time I move a system to help preserve beneficial stuff, aerate the sand that's been setting undisturbed for years or decades and get rid of most of the detritus and loose stuff.

I would not use a filter sock to siphon the sand into then return the siphoned water to that system. I used to do that and recommend it but after understanding the role of DOC (carbon dosing) relased by algae that can cause issues for corals it doesn't seem like a good idea. Especially after siphoning sand out as that process seems like it will break up the alga on sand releasing even more of the DOC. Here's some links you might find informative:

"Coral Reefs in the Microbial Seas" This video compliments Rohwer's book of the same title (Paper back is ~$20, Kindle is ~$10), both deal with the conflicting roles of the different types of DOC in reef ecosystems. While there is overlap bewteen his book and the video both have information not covered by the other and together give a broader view of the complex relationships found in reef ecosystems

Maintenance of Coral Reef Health (refferences at the end)

Changing Seas - Mysterious Microbes

Microbial view of Coral Decline

Nitrogen cycling in hte coral holobiont

BActeria and Sponges

Maintenance of Coral Reef Health (refferences at the end)

Optical Feedback Loop in Colorful Coral Bleaching

DNA Sequencing and the Reef Tank Microbiome

Richard Ross What's up with phosphate"

15 Answers

Wow! That's great! Thank you for so many amazing suggestions and links!