How does everyone vaccum there sand bed??

[Chiefmaster30]

I am wandering how everyone vacuums there sand bed? Every time I try it even turning all my flow off I get sand everywhere all over all of my corals. All over the rocks. It just looks awful! How do you guys/girls do this without making a flat out mess with your tank? Any info or suggestions greatly appreciated. Here is a pic of my tank!

 

[mcarroll]

I do it once – when I break down the tank – using 3/4" tubing and a "buckethead" shopvac.

The 3/4"+vac combo works anytime though, for anyone on a different maintenance plan! Careful of the weight in that vac though if you happen to be removing a lot of sand!

Use your hand to make and break the seal between the vac hose and the 3/4" to control suction without messing with the on/off switch. (Not my trick...someone here on R2R!)

A nylon paint filter makes a nice way to separate the sand from the water and smaller detritus. (Again, mind the weight....sand is slightly heavier than paint! ) This is especially good for keeping the bad stuff out of your drains when you empty the bucket....just pull the strainer with the big chunks out and dump the bucket without worrying about clogging your drains! (Sand in a drain is bad now and in the future.)

 

[ahiggins]

Depends:
1) Just siphoning poop: 1-1.5 inch acrylic tube connected to a 1/4" flex tubing. Same as a freshwater gravel vac but only pulls a small amount of water so I can work on all the sand without a massive water change. If you suck up too much sand, just kink the hose and it will fall back down. The acrylic tube is about 20" that I use for my cube so i can keep the opening as close to the bottom as possible. Rarely do I get sand anywhere I dont want it. Link-I have the 20" tube: http://www.drsfostersmith.com/produ...mpid=03cseYY&gclid=CMr2oe_Y_c8CFcJkhgodLAAPUA. This works really well, I have the small size sand and the small amount that does get sucked up, just gets washed and put back into the tank.

2) Changing sand or siphoning it up to treat cyano: 1-1.5" flex tube. Suck all the sand/water into a bucket. Something like this:

 

[Salty1962]

I wouldn't do more than the very top of the sand. You don't want stir up your organisms from your sand bed, especially if it's a DSB. It will release hydrogen sulfates in your tank and that's not good

 

[ahiggins]

Good point salty-my sand is about an inch or inch and a half.

 

[jsker]

I use a python aquarium vac work great. The python attaches to the sink and one can control the suction at the head. The python comes with 25ft of house too. No bucket, no mess

 

[helen ann]

I use a python aquarium vac work great. The python attaches to the sink and one can control the suction at the head. The python comes with 25ft of house too. No bucket, no mess

Hmmmmm, will need this for new tank! Where did you get it, Sir?

 

[jsker]

Hmmmmm, will need this for new tank! Where did you get it, Sir?

Here you go Mam

 

[helen ann]

Here you go Mam

Thank You!!!
Must have!!!

 

[djd3mon]

My tank turned 5 months old this week and I have yet to vacuum it. I have found out that you leave it alone or all kinds of stuff starts floating up and suspending in your water column.
However I do need to get a hose a siphon the very top most part of the waste that is on my sand bed somehow without disturbing the sand bed.


https://www.youtube.com/user/cjfaulk03
CJ has a pretty interesting video of cleaning his sand bed. I cannot find it of course, but he stirs it up and siphons it regularly.

 

[cloak]

I don't necessarily vacuum my sandbed, but I will use a small powerhead and stir the entire thing up once every month or so. This is usually done right before a water change. I also run a filter sock for a few hours to help polish the water. With a siphon your kind of limited by the rock structure, but with a powerhead you can reach pretty much anywhere. It's amazing how much crap can accumulate UNDER your rocks. Anyways, this has been done since the tank was set up almost 8 years ago and so far so good.

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

I would advise to clean your sand. If you always clean your sand it won't be dirty. So when you clean it again it won't be as dirty.

If you haven't cleaned in a while or ever. Go slow. You will def stir stuff up. In a shallow bed I would only want bacteria nothing else.

I really belive there would be a lot less problems with tanks if people had clean sand. If you want to belive that the bacteria in a shallow bed will eat all the solids that's fine I suppose. I'm begining to think it's easier to get sulfur in a nasty shallow bed than a healthy Dsb. Especially in light of several recent threads that I helped remove rotten eggs from tanks.
One thing a Dsb has is a huge population of bugs and worms to beak down solids so the huge population of bacteria can process it.
A shallow bed usually has neither. Especially if the reefer hates bugs or runs a sterile system to avoid them as is usually reccomended to them.

Now I'd advise any new reefer to build their scape and the size of the sand with sand cleaning in mind. Even if only means stirring it with your hand. Its actually that easy if think about it.

For my friend the op your sand might just be a little too fine. Or there's just enough gunk you need to get out. Personally I think If it's a fine grain sand you may have gone a little to deep to clean it easily.

Btw the tank Is really coming along isn't it?
I rember it from a few months ago.

 

[Paul B]

About once a year I create a typhoon with a diatom filter and stir up the entire substrate as much as I can and suck it out. I use a reverse undergravel filter. If you have a DSB, good luck.

 

[Fourstars]

I use a Python and then blow off the rocks and corals with a turkey baster

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

I do it once – when I break down the tank – using 3/4" tubing and a "buckethead" shopvac.

The 3/4"+vac combo works anytime though, for anyone on a different maintenance plan! Careful of the weight in that vac though if you happen to be removing a lot of sand!

Use your hand to make and break the seal between the vac hose and the 3/4" to control suction without messing with the on/off switch. (Not my trick...someone here on R2R!)

A nylon paint filter makes a nice way to separate the sand from the water and smaller detritus. (Again, mind the weight....sand is slightly heavier than paint! ) This is especially good for keeping the bad stuff out of your drains when you empty the bucket....just pull the strainer with the big chunks out and dump the bucket without worrying about clogging your drains! (Sand in a drain is bad now and in the future.)

I'm becoming a HUGE fan of my cheapo canister filter for deep cleans. Usullay I just run a floss but there's supposed to be some much finer micron filters at the Home Depot that compare to a diatom filter. If you happen to be concerned about the really tiny awful bugs.

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

About once a year I create a typhoon with a diatom filter and stir up the entire substrate as much as I can and suck it out. I use a reverse undergravel filter. If you have a DSB, good luck.

Lol
When I build my rugf I'm putting the Dsb in the fuge.
Right now it's in the tank. But hey I'm young. I make mistakes. Maybe next year when I'm 50 I'll start figuring stuff out better.

 

[Paul B]

I didn't figure it out until I was 60 so you got time.

 

[jsker]

About once a year I create a typhoon with a diatom filter and stir up the entire substrate as much as I can and suck it out. I use a reverse undergravel filter. If you have a DSB, good luck.

Thank you for stepping in Paul.

 

[atoll]

http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2003-03/eb/

 

[bif24701]

I don't, my flow keeps anything from settling. 60Xs