During tank maintainence, does one vacuum the sand as well?

[runway1]

In my cichlid tank, gravel vacuuming is a must. They're dirty fellows. Do you do the same thing in a SW tank? TIA

 

[the21kid]

Depends on the tank set up...FOWLR and so on...also the substrate type and depth has a factor as well. Many Reef keepers have a 3-5" sand substrate that they don't vaccuum...they lightly go over the topso as to not disturb the bacteria in the sand bed much. CC substrates are a little different since they can harbor bad bacteria therefore some find it preferable to vaccuum those.

 

[Bearfan]

Nope, I let the clean up crew take care of that.

 

[quarryshark]

I may move the very top layer around a bit, but I don't vacuum it.

 

[banks]

this might b a stupid question but do u use an underwater filter set up if your useing sand as the substrate

 

[malkore]

Banks, do you mean 'undergravel filter'? If so, no...those don't work well with sand because the sand is too compact to let much water flow through, and it falls through the cracks in the filter plate.
UGF's are pretty much on the outs with SW keepers...and even in FW they aren't all that popular. Too much maintenance to have to clean the plate every 6-12 months, especially since they aren't a superiour type of filtration. Yes they work, but they are becoming somewhat obsolete due to the efficiency and reduced price of canisters and good HOB's.

 

[banks]

yeah undergravel filter is what i meant and thanks for answering my ?

 

[xahx]

i use minimal gravel, not LS. A lotta junk does collect down there and the critters around the bottom dont take care of that, they only clean up the left over food n such. I try to use minimal sand and when i do a water change, i try to suck up around the rocks, so cloudy waste looking stuff is cleaned out. I also rinse the gravel well after i remove it from the tank (warm then cold rinse). (ay man! im learning from the guy at the fish store, cant be wrong!)