Sand stirring

[boogie]

Hi everyone. I've read quite a bit in a short time on this site and there is a ton of info. I need to know why on some threads, that there are statements about stirring sand. I stir my sand all the time. What is the reason why you would not stir sand as opposed to stirring it. I thought it was a good way to keep the tank clean. Please help!!!!

 

[melosu58]

It stirs up any waste in the sand causing your bioload to be overwhelmed. It also disturbs the fauna in the sand bed. IMO a sand sifting goby is a much better idea. Wont stir it up as much and will help keep the top of the sand clean. JMO

 

[CluelessInNY]

My goby likes to take chomps of snad in his big mouth and sift it right through his gills. Fun to watch. Grab some hermits and snails and let them mow through your sand. You can also get a vacuum tube to pull junk from your sand...I use it for my PWC's and my sand comes back pretty nicely. I also have bristle worms in my tank eating up the sand junk.

 

[boogie]

sand bed question

Hi, sorry to sound dumb here, but I really don't understand why it is not a good thing to stir up the whole sand bed. I do not have a reef tank and unfortunately, cannot get cute gobbies. My four sharks and 6 large eels and misc. larger fish would have them for a nice treat. With only live rock and large fish, I thought it would be good to stir the whole bed every time I cleaned, otherwise, I thought that the bed would be anaerobic and very bad for the tank, etc. Please help me understand, I know it's easy for you, but for me I'm stuck. I have 2 freshwater tanks and stir the crap out of them...