Sandbed Problems

[Casket_Case]

I started the hobby a year ago, I had a twenty gallon and had a sandbed, the sandbed always had microalgaes, diatoms, and some detritus mixed in. I now have a forty gallon and it’s a bare bottom, I’ve found bare bottoms to be easier in cleaning. I love the aesthetic sandbeds contribute but I’m afraid to add a sandbed and have the tank crash with microalgaes diatoms and everything. What can I do to have the sandbed looking spotless and free of microalgaes diatoms and detritus? I’m sorry if the topic of this discussion doesn’t fit the topic in this forum but I’m unsure of where I’d post about sandbeds.

 

[landlubber]

adding sand to a functioning tank won't cause any issue aside from dusting out the tank for a bit. if you want clean substrate you either have to have fish and inverts that continuously turn it over or do it yourself.

 

[NanoDJS]

Keeping sand-beds has become something for the hardcore only, most people opt out of them with modern style systems for the reasons you mentioned. I am of the old-school and always run sand someplace in my systems , and have always had sand in my DT's When properly done it will have alot of benefits vs the few negatives it brings , bottom line is it is possible to avoid those problems if you are diligent and pro-active. Bottom line is it takes years for the sandbed to mature properly and must be stirred frequently , I use a two spot named Shifty Shift (yes named after the shiftiest ever) because he likes digging in the dirt and eating it. He has trained all my fish to sift the sand for food . The only things that happen once in a while after its mature is doing water changes , will possible re introduce silicates and diatom till they are gone. It was a massive part of the first successful tanks I ran and saw based on GARF system. I know of tanks running for over 30 yrs like this.

 

[Casket_Case]

Keeping sand-beds has become something for the hardcore only, most people opt out of them with modern style systems for the reasons you mentioned. I am of the old-school and always run sand someplace in my systems , and have always had sand in my DT's When properly done it will have alot of benefits vs the few negatives it brings , bottom line is it is possible to avoid those problems if you are diligent and pro-active. Bottom line is it takes years for the sandbed to mature properly and must be stirred frequently , I use a two spot named Shifty Shift (yes named after the shiftiest ever) because he likes digging in the dirt and eating it. He has trained all my fish to sift the sand for food . The only things that happen once in a while after its mature is doing water changes , will possible re introduce silicates and diatom till they are gone. It was a massive part of the first successful tanks I ran and saw based on GARF system. I know of tanks running for over 30 yrs like this.

What can you do to lower silicates?

 

[NanoDJS]

What can you do to lower silicates?

The best way is to have serious RODI that hopefully eliminates it. The other way is to not do water changes and just deal with the water you have until its clear of them. The binders also take out PO so they can cause havok I dont use them. Siphoning out diatom will remove the silicate they have bound.

 

[Bret Brinkmann]

Below is a line to how I keep my 4" deep sand bed clean without any effort on my part. Given that I have had to neglect my tank for a while, you'd think it should over run with algae, which to a degree it is, just not the sand. You can also rinse the sand to prevent the clouding. Many people have done it without issue.

Snails & conchs that keep sandbeds clean.

I see a lot of posts involving sandbeds with diatom, cyanobacteria, and green hair algae in large patches or that completely taken over. I wanted to demonstrate an easy and fun way to reduce and possibly completely eliminate these nuisances from a sandbed. Snails and conchs can be a highly...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[Casket_Case]

Below is a line to how I keep my 4" deep sand bed clean without any effort on my part. Given that I have had to neglect my tank for a while, you'd think it should over run with algae, which to a degree it is, just not the sand. You can also rinse the sand to prevent the clouding. Many people have done it without issue.

Snails & conchs that keep sandbeds clean.

I see a lot of posts involving sandbeds with diatom, cyanobacteria, and green hair algae in large patches or that completely taken over. I wanted to demonstrate an easy and fun way to reduce and possibly completely eliminate these nuisances from a sandbed. Snails and conchs can be a highly...

www.reef2reef.com

Thank you!