Sand vacuming?

[Bruce7267ad]

So I'm used to using a gravel vacuum in freshwater but can you do that with sand in the salt water community?

 

[EmdeReef]

You can but it’s very difficult as it requires very frequent vacuuming to be effective. I would make sure to have enough bristle worms and nassarius snails to do the work for you.

 

[vetteguy53081]

So I'm used to using a gravel vacuum in freshwater but can you do that with sand in the salt water community?

Yes- standard gravel vac is same instrument using the same technique for vacuuming

 

[sawdonkey]

My gravel vac is one of my most used tools. I keep a 1-2 inch sand bed and vacuum and stir it all the time. I vacuum my sand when I do water changes, about once per month. If I’m not doing a water change and want to clean up my sand, I put a filter sock in my sump and vacuum into that.....wallah! Clean sand with no water change!

 

[madweazl]

No different then your freshwater tank. I typically do it twice a year.

 

[Bruce7267ad]

My gravel vac is one of my most used tools. I keep a 1-2 inch sand bed and vacuum and stir it all the time. I vacuum my sand when I do water changes, about once per month. If I’m not doing a water change and want to clean up my sand, I put a filter sock in my sump and vacuum into that.....wallah! Clean sand with no water change!

Woah I got to try this. How exactly do you vacume into ur filter sock?

 

[Proteus Meep]

Yes you can..some use this technique others leave their sand be without disturbing it themselves and stock sand dwelling critters to help turn it over

...I vacuum my sand bed weekly as the way i remove water for the water change it is a great export mechanism and keeps the sand nice and fresh

 

[motortrendz]

I'm one of the guys that leaves my sand alone as much as possible. When I get little patches of algae on my sand I'll siphon that out off the top I have alot of nassarius snails in my sand and a goby that keep it turned over nicely.

 

[Jay Z]

On my main tank, when I notice my parameters starting to drift up, I will vacuum mine. Usually every 2 months or so. I hook a filter sock inside a bucket and vacuum/drain into that, incase my session runs longer than expected, I can add that water back into the tank if I took more out than I wanted to.

I use a smaller vacuum and try to adjust flow to keep from getting a lot of sand up.

My 14 and 6 are on the same system as my main. I just stir those and let the overflows pick it up, then change my socks. My closed top 6 is done like that because I can't get a vacuum into it, changing it out to a open top 10 soon.

 

[Billdogg]

I cannot imagine keeping an aquarium without a python siphon to help with water changes. I try to do about 1/3 of the open sandbed with each water change. I really can't think of a good reason not to. About once a year. I will move any corals the live on the sand and vacuum there as well. You would be amazed (dismayed?) at the amount of gunk that can build up.

I fully understand that a CUC is a vital part of a healthy system as well, but let's face it - everybody poops. If you don't do something to mitigate that fact you will end up with, well, a bunch of poop.

hth!

 

[sawdonkey]

Woah I got to try this. How exactly do you vacume into ur filter sock?

Just do like it sounds. Put a sock in your sump and siphon the water from the DT. I use a clamp to make sure the hose stays in the sock. The great part about doing it this way is that you’re not having to worry about how full your bucket is.