I stirred up the sand a bit.

[xnaz]

I was taking out a goby today but I had to take out all the rock. A bit of poop and sand kicked up from down where it was and started going around the tank. Will this affect anything?

 

[JumboShrimp]

What size tank... fish only, or do you have corals that may be irritated? Generally I’d say if you have a decent volume of water and didn’t create an entire gunk-snowstorm, you should be alright.

 

[xnaz]

What size tank... fish only, or do you have corals that may be irritated? Generally I’d say if you have a decent volume of water and didn’t create an entire gunk-snowstorm, you should be alright.

It’s a 20 gallon with like 15 corals but it cleared up in a few mins.

 

[Auquanut]

Might want to change your socks, floss, etc... Maybe check ammonia, but I'd say you should be alright. If your sand bed is relatively new, shouldn't be a problem.

 

[xnaz]

Might want to change your socks, floss, etc... Maybe check ammonia, but I'd say you should be alright. If your sand bed is relatively new, shouldn't be a problem.

It’s about 5 and a half months which I’ve read is still new I’m guessing.

 

[ReeferBud]

I stir my sand up regularly as part of my maintenance routine. I find it to be a good practice and not let it sit for months, accumulate detritus and go anoxic.

 

[xnaz]

I stir my sand up regularly as part of my maintenance routine. I find it to be a good practice and not let it sit for months, accumulate detritus and go anoxic.

Ok cool is there any reason why I had so much fish poop just sitting around because I have enough flow in my tank I believe. If you have an answer I’d appreciate it.

 

[CanuckReefer]

Ok cool is there any reason why I had so much fish poop just sitting around because I have enough flow in my tank I believe. If you have an answer I’d appreciate it.

I always stir up my sandbed a bit every other day by hand, and have a ton of cuc all the same. @ReeferBud Provides good advice here.....
The fish poop needs to be extracted in one way or another....
What is your cuc?

 

[xnaz]

I always stir up my sandbed a bit every other day by hand, and have a ton of cuc all the same. @ReeferBud Provides good advice here.....
The fish poop needs to be extracted in one way or another....
What is your cuc?

A conch 5 snails 5 hermits and a sand sifting star. I had more snails but I think some got eaten. It’s in a 20 gallon.

 

[ReeferBud]

No matter how much flow you have, if you have a sand bed and don’t stir it regularly, it will become full of detritus and decaying organic matter over time.

this is one of the causes of ‘old tank’ syndrome and why nutrient control becomes challenging in established tanks sometimes

 

[xnaz]

No matter how much flow you have, if you have a sand bed and don’t stir it regularly, it will become full of detritus and decaying organic matter over time.

this is one of the causes of ‘old tank’ syndrome and why nutrient control becomes challenging in established tanks sometimes

Ok I’ve heard of old tank syndrome but I didn’t know what it was. Thanks for the explanation.

 

[CanuckReefer]

A conch 5 snails 5 hermits and a sand sifting star. I had more snails but I think some got eaten. It’s in a 20 gallon.

That's a pretty good crew. Watch the sand sifting star, 20 g is small for it, he may run out of food....stir the sandbed every so often yourself no matter the crew....

 

[xnaz]

That's a pretty good crew. Watch the sand sifting star, 20 g is small for it, he may run out of food....stir the sandbed every so often yourself no matter the crew....

Got it yeah the star is usually under the sand cause I do have some diatoms so he’s munching on it all day. He rarely comes up from the sand.

 

[ReeferBud]

Diamond gobies can be great for sandbeds. Mine works tirelessly at getting mouthfuls of sand, is fun to watch and does a really nice job keeping the sandbed clean.

 

[brandon429]

Xnaz how about this: take your tank apart, clean the sand entirely, put tank back cleaned you’ll like the sparkle

if you ever want it deep cleaned we have a thread that shows how/what order to work for safety. It buys you months of clean running time.

animals can help agreed but they add bioload and waste right back, disease if not quarantined / this way won’t and is ideal for long term care for nanos

the animals already there add waste directly into the bed vs remove it.

Deep cleaning is not practical for large tanks but easy in nanos

its not bad, harmful, destabilizing or negative in any way, a deep clean has only positive outcomes which is why we have so many hundreds of jobs logged
probably 400 logged by now.
it helps you prevent uglies coming up due to all the waste that builds over time. You have a way to create a sandbed that when you disturb it, the grains fall clean like a snowglobe.

I like stirring as preventative too but it’s better to start after a rip clean and not before. Cyano, and green hair algae are the risk from keeping it in place, the old school way would never allow deep cleans, that’s why so many never earned old age.

 

[ReeferBud]

Xnaz how about this: take your tank apart, clean the sand entirely, put tank back cleaned you’ll like the sparkle

if you ever want it deep cleaned we have a thread that shows how/what order to work for safety. It buys you months of clean running time.

animals can help agreed but they add bioload and waste right back, disease if not quarantined / this way won’t and is ideal for long term care for nanos

the animals already there add waste directly into the bed vs remove it.

Deep cleaning is not practical for large tanks but easy in nanos

its not bad, harmful, destabilizing or negative in any way, a deep clean has only positive outcomes which is why we have so many hundreds of jobs logged
probably 400 logged by now.
it helps you prevent uglies coming up due to all the waste that builds over time. You have a way to create a sandbed that when you disturb it, the grains fall clean like a snowglobe.

I like stirring as preventative too but it’s better to start after a rip clean and not before. Cyano, and green hair algae are the risk from keeping it in place, the old school way would never allow deep cleans, that’s why so many never earned old age.

if you do this, I’d be concerned and prepared for a new nitrogen tank cycle.

there’s many cases of people removing their sand and throwing their tank into a destabilizing cycle since sand acts as surface area for bacteria to colonize.

it can be done but be very careful and recognize that there are risks and it could be like almost starting with a new tank, which is probably what was being implied anyways.

 

[brandon429]

It’s a legit concern

but the catch is, we’ve mastered the ordering now and have a zero percent loss rate.

agreed that in the past, nobody had any form of structure to allow for deep cleaning, they were reefing completely with no control killing systems right and left when it was time to move homes. thankfully we grew past hoping and into taking command, it made nanos live longer / less start overs and losses.


a neat way to see it is that running any customization of the thread below is very dangerous, but adhering gets any nano these results

*the key detail is it can be ran on any nano, at any time, and it will cause it to live longer.

Official Sand Rinse and Tank Transfer thread

If you are reading this thread to cure a tank invasion from a link I sent you, we do not need to identify your type of invasion here we do not need you to test anything at anytime regarding nitrate, phosphate etc Above all, we do not need to see a microscope slide picture of your invasion at...

www.reef2reef.com

takes two hours to reset the tanks age and skip cycle on any nano

its ideal to keep trying to avoid needing that thread one day in a nano, using any other options are ok too, but when the tank says a deep clean is warranted a study there makes any nano immune to ots, algae takeover, or home move losses etc.

notice people wait until last moment to present for fixing

thats not needed, I advice start on month five when it’s not wrecked. Preventatively


the thread above is documentation of the end of old tank syndrome in reefing, we are now immune to it. Every reef, it was the filth we were storing up, the old rules really were just lacking science and killed tanks via constant hands off running in the name of stability.

 

[xnaz]

Diamond gobies can be great for sandbeds. Mine works tirelessly at getting mouthfuls of sand, is fun to watch and does a really nice job keeping the sandbed clean.

He’s the reason all this happened. I had to take him out cause he would knock my corals over and put sand all over my rock to the point that it was under it.

 

[xnaz]

Xnaz how about this: take your tank apart, clean the sand entirely, put tank back cleaned you’ll like the sparkle

if you ever want it deep cleaned we have a thread that shows how/what order to work for safety. It buys you months of clean running time.

animals can help agreed but they add bioload and waste right back, disease if not quarantined / this way won’t and is ideal for long term care for nanos

the animals already there add waste directly into the bed vs remove it.

Deep cleaning is not practical for large tanks but easy in nanos

its not bad, harmful, destabilizing or negative in any way, a deep clean has only positive outcomes which is why we have so many hundreds of jobs logged
probably 400 logged by now.
it helps you prevent uglies coming up due to all the waste that builds over time. You have a way to create a sandbed that when you disturb it, the grains fall clean like a snowglobe.

I like stirring as preventative too but it’s better to start after a rip clean and not before. Cyano, and green hair algae are the risk from keeping it in place, the old school way would never allow deep cleans, that’s why so many never earned old age.

Yeah I’ve read the article a few weeks ago because I’m moving in a few months and was wondering what the best way is. I’m definitely going to rinse it out when I move but it wasn’t as much to the point where I had to do that. And everything looks great this morning. Thanks.

 

[FrickMasterFlex]

Hoping this gets bumped to the top as I'm going through a similar situation in my 20gal nano right now. Tank is crystal clear as I use an Aquaclear 50 filter with Purigen & Phosguard bags in the chamber along w/ carbon & a sponge. CUC is just 4 snails (they've inhaled all the algae already, I'm actually a bit worried). What happens when I do my weekly water change is that even the slightest water flow in certain areas on my tank or a slight kick up of my sand releases an ENORMOUS amount of debris, detritus, decaying uneaten food, poop, etc. It creates a storm in my tank that looks AWFUL, however after 15 minutes of running the filter the tank sparkles again. My questions would be:

1. Should I worry about algae for my snails, or will they always find something to eat?
2. When I kick up this debris, is it harmful to my tank inhabitants? I know it can't be good, but not sure how else to properly get that crap out of there without doing what I normally do. Currently have 5 corals, and 2 Ocellaris clowns.