I have 55 US Gallon saltwater tank, and about 2 " of live sand. I have read that a deeper sand bed will help me with the issue of sand looking filthy and brown from the food however I already have fish in the tank and dont want to cloud it up with sand again to fill it more. I am wondering if a few clean up crew, hermits, shrimp, etc. and power heads would be enough to clean up the sand? Thoughts?
Live Sand Issues
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austinsdad
Aquarium Advice Addict
Weclome to AA. 
Deeper sand will not alleviate the dirt problems. Are you skimming? What critters are in the tank. How old is the tank. Lot's of info we'll need to help with your problem, but a good old fashioned water change that stirs the sand bed up (like vacuuming) bi-weekly might help you.
Also, with leftover food on the sand bed, I'd wonder what your nitrate levels are and whether your tank is healthy. You've got NO clean up crew at all??
Deeper sand will not alleviate the dirt problems. Are you skimming? What critters are in the tank. How old is the tank. Lot's of info we'll need to help with your problem, but a good old fashioned water change that stirs the sand bed up (like vacuuming) bi-weekly might help you.
Also, with leftover food on the sand bed, I'd wonder what your nitrate levels are and whether your tank is healthy. You've got NO clean up crew at all??
Thank you for the welcome!
I have checked my levels and all is fine with nitrate, nitrite, ammonia, etc. The tank is about 5 months old and all i have in it is live rock, aggrogated sand, and 3 blue chromis fish. I do not have a skimmer, and clean the tank with a vaccume however dont like vaccuming the sand as my gravel vac sucks up all of the sand i purchased. I have no clean up crew at all and was wondering is there an alternative to sucking up all of my sand?
I have checked my levels and all is fine with nitrate, nitrite, ammonia, etc. The tank is about 5 months old and all i have in it is live rock, aggrogated sand, and 3 blue chromis fish. I do not have a skimmer, and clean the tank with a vaccume however dont like vaccuming the sand as my gravel vac sucks up all of the sand i purchased. I have no clean up crew at all and was wondering is there an alternative to sucking up all of my sand?
thominil
Aquarium Advice Addict
Nassarius snails would be your best bet. The actual numbers from your tests are what they are asking for when they ask you what your parameters are. If you have test strips, go grab a liquid test kit. Might want to watch how much you are feeding, you shouldn't have a lot of extra food on the sand, moreover just a few pellets or flakes, or whatever you feed that your fish didn't get to. Nassarius snails would stir up the sand and would eat a goot majority of the uneaten food on the surface of the sand. Might want to grab some astrea/trochus snails for the rock too. I do recommend that you get a skimmer.
Great,
Thanks guys! What benefit will the skimmer give me in the tank? I know it removes waste in the form of protein however i notice i do not have the white film at the top of my tank. Parameters are all fine.
Thanks guys! What benefit will the skimmer give me in the tank? I know it removes waste in the form of protein however i notice i do not have the white film at the top of my tank. Parameters are all fine.
CaptainAhab
Thanx but no.....
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Your DOC's are suspended in the water column. Air bubbles trap the DOC's ansd upon bursting in your skimmer throat/cup are removed from the water column. A film at the top of your tank would indicate that you need to agitate the water at the surface to suspend them in the column to be removed.
austinsdad
Aquarium Advice Addict
Check out the video. The key is the large plastic gravel siphon attachment to the end of the hose.
How to Clean Sand in a Fish Tank: Fish Tank Maintenance | eHow.com
How to Clean Sand in a Fish Tank: Fish Tank Maintenance | eHow.com
austinsdad
Aquarium Advice Addict
Kurt_Nelson
Aquarium Advice Addict
This thing here...
Gravel Cleaner
... really makes gravel/sand cleaning nice. It has a built in flow control valve on the top to adjust how fast you want the flow going, thus changing how much sand is being "picked up". It also has a unique little feature to start the siphon so that you just jiggle it up and down in the tank and it starts the siphon using a little check valve.
Agree with the others... deeper sand isn't going to help one bit with what it looks like on top. Nassarius snails are great little janitors for the sandbed.
Gravel Cleaner
... really makes gravel/sand cleaning nice. It has a built in flow control valve on the top to adjust how fast you want the flow going, thus changing how much sand is being "picked up". It also has a unique little feature to start the siphon so that you just jiggle it up and down in the tank and it starts the siphon using a little check valve.
Agree with the others... deeper sand isn't going to help one bit with what it looks like on top. Nassarius snails are great little janitors for the sandbed.
I have yet to do anything about the issue but it seems like the sand gets more brown and discolored by the minute! I have never seen something produce / grow / migrate so fast! Anyone seen this before and know whats up ? Levels were fine, i noticed i have a lot of air bubbles comming from the bottem of the tank and rising to the top from the sand, not sure if this is even relevant or not.
austinsdad
Aquarium Advice Addict
Is this a new tank? Wondering if you've got diatom blooms that all new tanks get. Rocks brown too?
What and how much do you feed?
What and how much do you feed?
I have no clean up crew at all. and yes all rocks in the tank are getting brown as well. I feed only enough for 3 fish to eat within 2 minutes so that not much falls to the ground. They are fed once every 12 hours. usually 4:07 pm and then again at 4:07 am as i have an automatic feeding system.
I looked at pictures of diatom blooms and thats exactly what my tank looks like, but its covered! I'll vaccume the sand it will make it slightly better but then flair up within hours. Is it dangerous to the fish / parameters and or whats a cure?
Do you use phytoplankton? I had terrible issues with my sand bed until I stopped using this product. I was only using one drop every week and still had cyano. Stopped using it and sand bed cleared up with two water changes.
Kurt_Nelson
Aquarium Advice Addict
A few things...
Diatom blooms are pretty normal for new tanks. I doesn't mean you're doing anything wrong - it just means your tank is going through growing pains. Adding a cleanup crew of astrea and/or trochus snails will help as they'll eat the stuff up. Otherwise, they'll burn out over time.
Once your diatoms die off, you might have issues is you keep feeding every 12 hours. And especially if you're using an automatic feeder. If you're using an auto feeder, I don't see how you can tell whether or not you're overfeeding. If you're standing there watching, then why the auto feeder anyway? Many folks feed once every two days, with no obvious ill effects.
Also... phytoplankton is a type of food. I think if you were adding it, you'd know it. Why are you using Prime? Are you using it to treat tap water for use in the tank before it goes in?
Diatom blooms are pretty normal for new tanks. I doesn't mean you're doing anything wrong - it just means your tank is going through growing pains. Adding a cleanup crew of astrea and/or trochus snails will help as they'll eat the stuff up. Otherwise, they'll burn out over time.
Once your diatoms die off, you might have issues is you keep feeding every 12 hours. And especially if you're using an automatic feeder. If you're using an auto feeder, I don't see how you can tell whether or not you're overfeeding. If you're standing there watching, then why the auto feeder anyway? Many folks feed once every two days, with no obvious ill effects.
Also... phytoplankton is a type of food. I think if you were adding it, you'd know it. Why are you using Prime? Are you using it to treat tap water for use in the tank before it goes in?
austinsdad
Aquarium Advice Addict
Agreed. Feed once a day only. The diatoms will disappear as suddenly as they showed up. All new tanks get it.
Also, again - what are you feeding?
Also, again - what are you feeding?
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