When to change out sand?

[Curtie44]

I remember reading somewhere that after so long it is necessary to change out the sand in out reef tanks. Why is this? How long can you go before needing to do it? Isn't it enough to vaccum the sand bed every few months?

 

[stunreefer Verified Sponsor]

Shallow Sand Beds should be vacuumed every so often. I do 25-50% with every bi-weekly water change, and the rest the next water changes. No need to change it out IMO.

Sand and rocks absorb nutrients such as PO4 and NO3, and can release them back into the water column. There's been some people that believe it's a good idea to change one or the other (or both) out over time to prevent this. I say keep them low in the first place so they don't absorb much, if any

 

[nissanrs]

i thought sand shifters nassesirus snails maybe cukes. they take care of the sand. vac the debris?

 

[Bigevill1]

thats always been my understanding. if you have a shallow sand bed and plenty of things to keep it clean you shouldnt have to vaccum it at all. I never do unless I want to remove some sand.

 

[stunreefer Verified Sponsor]

They will help stir up the sand and eat food that has hit the substrate. They still excrete waste... some is kept in the water column and sucked down to your sump for filtration, much of it is not. If you hit your sand bed with a gravel vac in just a couple spots you'll be amazed at how much "crap" it pulls up. Is it 100% necessary? No, but neither is anything in the hobby, less the water being salty

In my tank I have four small Nassarius snails, and one serpent star that consume (the little) excess food that hits the substrate, but I still gravel vac it.

 

[Curtie44]

Thanks for the replies guys. I'll just stick to doing the gravel vac thing once a month or so.

 

[Bigevill1]

when I feed my tank the sand bed looks like a grave yard on the night of the living dead. snails pop up everywhere and go to town. Then the mated pair of diamond sleeper gobies I have go thru and turn the bed over about 100X a day.

 

[stunreefer Verified Sponsor]

when I feed my tank the sand bed looks like a grave yard on the night of the living dead. snails pop up everywhere and go to town. Then the mated pair of diamond sleeper gobies I have go thru and turn the bed over about 100X a day.

... and all of those things excrete waste back into the sand bed.

 

[Bigevill1]

yeah, but when they turn over the sand bed constantly they stir that waste into the water where it is skimmed out or consumed in the fuge.

 

[swissgaurd]

i have a 4" sanbed,ive never vacumed,its been untouched for 9 years,i keep a sea cucumber 100 nassurious snails to clean sand

 

[AZDesertRat]

I've got 330 lbs of Southdown in my 100G, 6.5 years old and just as clean and white as the day it was put in there. There is no need to change out the sand as long as you leave it alone and add a few cups of new sand with lots of crirtters in it every so often to give it a jump start. As long as the bacteria and beneficail critters are present and busy it wil stay forever. I just tested my nitrates and phosphates over the weekend using Salifert kits and neither is detectable at any level.

 

[Bigevill1]

My sand bed is actually pretty shallow. less than 3 inches in most places, less than one inch in some.

 

[condor]

every 2 to 3 years, even though it may stay white old sand holds po4 and no3, and slowly leaches back into tank as it breaks down

 

[AZDesertRat]

That is an opinion and is not proven. Its all about how you take care of your system.

 

[Paul_N]

every 2 to 3 years, even though it may stay white old sand holds po4 and no3, and slowly leaches back into tank as it breaks down

If you have a dsb this is really just wasting $$. If you have a mature tank and low nutrients this will not be an issue. The only time the sand gets bound with p04 and n03 is when your system is polluted with them. If we follow your logic then we should throw our rock out also.