Do I need to Vac my Sandbed?

[goisles1]

Hey,

Was looking at my new tank this morning (2mos Old) and noticed that there is some waste gathering in certain areas of the sandbed. It's DEF poop but not from the fish. To me, it looks like it's coming from the 4 Turbo Snails in the tank. I was watching one of them clean and it looks like the waste comes out right next to their mouths (gross).

I ask because now that I have a sump, Water changes are such a breeze that I would hate to have to get a siphon going to clean the sandbed. I'd also have to move my new lighting to get my arms into the tank...

Should I leave this alone as I've seen both my Emerald crab and my hermits eating it or should I clean it up? How often do you guys vaccum your sandbed?

 

[goisles1]

Darn... I hate being one of those people who asks a question that's been asked a thousand times..

After I submitted my post, I did a search on "Turbo Poop"... Seems to be a common question..

 

[Tank2379]

IMO... I siphon my sand almost every water change so there is hardly any waste to accumulate. I siphon up what I can get, not saying I get it all but it's no more than a 1/2 cup or less of sand that gets siphon up. I tend to replace some of it with new sand for me personally keep it fresh but most of the time depending on how much waste I might do it every other week. Hope this helps any.

 

[goisles1]

IMO... I siphon my sand almost every water change so there is hardly any waste to accumulate. I siphon up what I can get, not saying I get it all but it's no more than a 1/2 cup or less of sand that gets siphon up. I tend to replace some of it with new sand for me personally keep it fresh but most of the time depending on how much waste I might do it every other week. Hope this helps any.

Thanks Tank... You actually have a similar setup as I do.. How do you get into your tank with the lighting you have?? My tank is a little over 12inches deep and my lighting (same as yours) is 12 inches wide. It's hard for me to even get a little cup of water to thaw out my mysis. Do you remove the light to get your vac in there?

 

[Tank2379]

Yup! I just take the fixture off and do my maintenance. I don't have a canopy so it a little easier to take off.

 

[goisles1]

Yup! I just take the fixture off and do my maintenance. I don't have a canopy so it a little easier to take off.

WOW... Ok..bit of a hassle though.. I'm so spoiled now doing my PWC's.. They take me like 5 mins... Pump the water out of the sump into a bucket, then just replace with new water.. all done in my sump. Never even turn anything off

 

[Tank2379]

Yeah I guess it is easier to do it that way but I think your system will be cleaner if you siphon some of the waste from the inside instead from your sump... JMO... I don't have a sump so I really do all my maintenance inside my tank especially since I have a couple SPS corals. The less waste the more growth there will be.

 

[melosu58]

I dont ever vacuum my sand bed. I let the gobies and other critters clean it.

 

[Tank2379]

I dont ever vacuum my sand bed. I let the gobies and other critters clean it.

yeah I don't have a Huge CUC that's why I siphon up also. Maybe it's time to invest in some more...

 

[thincat]

Thanks Tank... You actually have a similar setup as I do.. How do you get into your tank with the lighting you have?? My tank is a little over 12inches deep and my lighting (same as yours) is 12 inches wide. It's hard for me to even get a little cup of water to thaw out my mysis. Do you remove the light to get your vac in there?

Question? How deep is your sandbed? What are you using the sand for. Decoration, Deep sand bed? If for a DSB I would not vac. the bed because it would defeat the purpose of the sand. Even if it was just for Decorations I would not vac or remove any sand.

 

[nanoluvr]

I also clean mine w/ every water change. I'm kinda surprised sometimes when I get to a hard to reach area that I haven't been able to reach for a while, and see how cloudy the detritus is that I suck up with the siphon. I do a PWC every 2 weeks. Just seeing that cloudy stuff keeps me doing every time it, I think. If I had sand sifters, like Melsou, I think it may be different though. Gobies do a good job.

 

[goisles1]

Question? How deep is your sandbed? What are you using the sand for. Decoration, Deep sand bed? If for a DSB I would not vac. the bed because it would defeat the purpose of the sand. Even if it was just for Decorations I would not vac or remove any sand.

It's DEF a DSB.. 80lbs of Aragonite.. 4-6 inches depending on the location

 

[thincat]

It is best not to vacume a DSB. Read more about it:
Deep Sand Beds

 

[Kurt_Nelson]

If you can just stick with vacuuming the top 1/2" or so, you should be fine. But as thincat mentioned, you don't want to disturb the lower layers.

 

[sqrle]

That is the exact reason that I went with the deep sand. i have almost 6", Does pretty good.