How often do you vacuum your Aragonite

[Phil D.]

I have a Magnum HOB filter that I have the vacuum attachment for it and use a gravel vac twice a month, one half one time the other half the other time. Keeps the sandbed from getting the sulfer gas bubbles.

 

[Dondante]

I have a Magnum HOB filter that I have the vacuum attachment for it and use a gravel vac twice a month, one half one time the other half the other time. Keeps the sandbed from getting the sulfer gas bubbles.

You using the Micron filter?

Man, I wish I could find one of the old HOB magnum filters.

 

[geekengineer]

I didn't do it on my last tank.. Feeling like that was a bad practice. I didn't think about using a turkey baster I have to do that next time.

 

[JAMSOURY]

I like to vacuum the top so it looks clean. I deep clean a section at a time.

 

[madweazl]

I vacuum the sand (2-3") one or two times a year.

 

[rogersb]

I vacuum the top of the sandbed and remove it with water changes probably once or twice a month. Once a month I'll rinse out a pound of so of sand to replace what I'm removing. I know a lot of my sand gets turned because I have wrasses that sleep in it, but I want to remove some to help export nutrients that are settling into it.

 

[Greybeard]

I'm using special reef grade sand, about 1" deep, over a 60" x 30" footprint tank, with fairly minimal rockwork. Lots of open sand.

Prior to last November, I did a 20% water change, using a gravel vac, every other week. Tried to get as much gunk out of the substrate as I could.

Last November, I implemented an Auto Water Change system (AWC). Haven't touched a gravel vac, or carried a bucket of water, since then. Tank is happier than ever.

I currently have 2x Sand conchs and a Goatfish, maybe half a dozen Nassarius snails. Thinking seriously about adding another handful of Nassarius snails, and maybe even a sand sifting starfish. Might even do a more agressive sand sifting fish... diamond goby or some such, just to make up for me not moving the sand around manually.

 

[sfin52]

I stir it by hand. Ive killed a couple of snails trying to vacuum the sand.

 

[littlebigreef]

Every 4 months I pull everything off the bottom and and turn over the sand bed. There's maybe 1" - 1 1/2" of substrate throughout. If it goes any longer the nitrates seem to really build up and the zoas don't look as good. I do have nassarius snails and a few others that I replenish periodically.

 

[SynGraves]

I only vacuum the sand at the front of my nano tank for aesthetic purposes. Usually I'll vacuum half during my weekly 2 gallon water change just to keep the sand as white a possible. The rest of the tank is hard to get the gravel vac into so I just use a baster to blow up a little off the sand and kick up stray detritus for the vac to suck up

 

[dealseer]

Never vacuum but I disturb the sand once or twice per week

 

[Lukas75]

I think maybe there should be another option: What's sand?

 

[dantimdad]

I don't vacuum. I use my fingers or a stirrer and go through my sand once a month to stir it up. I don't like clumps or anaerobic pockets. This also throws detritus into the water column and feeds everything before being caught by the filter socks/floss.

 

[RMS18]

If you want to avoid the fear of your sand bed being a ticking time bomb like some believe, then a vacuum twice a month will prevent that. In addition having good flow to reduce the dead spots and the use of nassarius snails also help out.

I also have 5 sand dwelling wrasses that keep it stirred when they go to sleep. One wrasse alone can stir up a radius of 6 inches+.

 

[dantimdad]

Been doing the nassarius, sand sifters and usually a wrasse for years as well.

I found if I stir it once a month, nothing bad can get a foot hold.

I started this when you basically had to with crushed coral and dolomite because they caked so badly you couldn't really vacuum.

It just became habit.

 

[JDtimk]

Main tank is no sand, but i try to blow out the detritus from the rocks every once in awhile. My little 13 gal peninsula has about an inch or two of sand on the bottom that i vacuum with water changes every two weeks and about every six months i pull all the rock out and vacuum the sand under the rock.

 

[Reefcowboy]

I run a full sps tank and never clean the sand. I think about vacuuming as good practice but wonder if I will end up losing colonies because of the suspended waste that can get lifted?

 

[Deiblerj]

So many different opinions/methods used! ;Dead

 

[Dom]

I never vacuumed my sand. Sometimes, I'd take a piece of egg crate which was fashioned into a rake and use it to turn the sand.

But I recently I had an aggressive Cyano outbreak on my sand only. @Brew12 pointed out that I should be vacuuming my sand as the Cyano was probably feeding off whatever was locked up in the sand.

BINGO! Problem solved in two weeks (and two water changes via vacuuming).

Now that the "poisons" are out of my substrate, I will rake my substrate regularly to keep it from building up again.

 

[Jvesche20]

I have hawaii black sand and if I dont then algae grows over the white specks and makes it look like its black and brown not black and white so I do it when i do my water changes