Ok to stir you sand bed?

[bb0029]

Just wondering if it is ok to stir your sand bed when you do a water change? The crabs turn some stuff over but I don't think they do it enough. I was getting ready for my weekly change and was wondering if I could rough up the sand myself and not mess anything up. Any benefit to doing it or do you think it would be a total waste of time?

I was thinking about using a small 1.5" piece of pvc to shove into the bed and shake things up a bit.

[tabblet15]

I do it all the time with my nano, and its almost 3 years old. I love a nice bright, white sandbed !

[EndlessSummer]

I do it all the time when I'm doing water changes. I use a smaller python to stir up the sandbed and take out what I can before I switch to a larger tube to do the actual water change. My sand looks great all the time.

[VWD]

It really depends on a few things,is it a deep sand bed? Shallow sand bed? and how old is the sand bed?

[bb0029]

Sweet. I will give it a shot. I have a mixed bed with white sand and some black rock. Thanks

[bb0029]

Originally Posted by VWD

It really depends on a few things,is it a deep sand bed? Shallow sand bed? and how old is the sand bed?

It is about 2" deep and is about 4 months old. It is a mixture of white sand and black gravel. About 5:1 ratio in favor of the sand.

[VWD]

You can do it no problem, Use a vacuum during water changes and get the junk out. it will really help in a long run.
The reason I ask how deep is because a DSB will have an Anaerobic area you don't want to disturb.

[bb0029]

Originally Posted by VWD

You can do it no problem, Use a vacuum during water changes and get the junk out. it will really help in a long run.
The reason I ask how deep is because a DSB will have an Anaerobic area you don't want to disturb.

Cool, thanks.

[Salty O'Shen]

+1 on the "do it"

I stir up my sand bed every week. i have some nassarius snails that so a little of the work. i let them get to the point i can reach with my tube and plastic tongs.

be careful not to stir up the sand so much that it gets into the power heads, this is mostly a problem if your power heads are within 3-4" of the sand bed... the motors can seize up if the sand grains get into the magnet area of the impeller.

[Mr.Peanut]

I also do it everytime I do a water change. Which is every week.

I thought I was keeping a clean sand bed. Once I got a sand sifting goby, I saw how dirty it really was.

[Geoff]

if you do this it is a good idea to run a canister filter for a couple of hours after the water change to get as much of the detritus out of the water column before it settles out. after the two hours remove the canister filter from the system, clean it and put it away till the next water change. you do not want to keep a canister filter running on a reef tank long term.

G~

[salty198]

Originally Posted by Geoff

if you do this it is a good idea to run a canister filter for a couple of hours after the water change to get as much of the detritus out of the water column before it settles out. after the two hours remove the canister filter from the system, clean it and put it away till the next water change. you do not want to keep a canister filter running on a reef tank long term.

G~

+1,

that is how I do my water changes... first blow off all the rock and the top layer of sand.. I have a hob canister running during this.. change 10% water with another pump from my sump... and leave canister on for at least an hour... it gets full of so much junk it just an hour.

[drew1092]

I have a newer tank, about 4 weeks old with 2" of sand from an established tank. Should I clean my bed this early and if so how deep do you sift into the sand? Does it bother the fish at all (no fish yet but for the future)?

[Phishnoob]

I am so glad you said only 2" deep. Don't get Tom started on this.

[Jumbaliah]

I always thought it was bad to stir up the sand bed? My tank is pretty new as well, and i have a 4" deep sand bed. Would it be ok to stir up the top inch or two? Or is it ok to stir up all 4"? I'm always looking for new ways i can improve the rock, water, and sand quality in my tank =)