To stir or not to stir? That is my question.

[Loomin8]

Sand beds so much information but seemingly quite controversial . One says stir it up for best results, others say do not disturb your sand EVER. What's everyone's experience on this issue? My tank is a small nano reef and appears to be doing well , I've had it for 4 months with very few casualties. One fish (which I believe was not well to begin with) and a sexy shrimp. Which I probably added too soon. Everything else is good. But what about the sand??

 

[apet66]

Do not stir the sand bed up, it releases built up nitrates into your water. Best bet to keep the sand aerated is to add some dwarf cerith snails.

 

[Beengirl]

Having a Nassarius snail or two to gently stir the very top layer would be ok, but don't stir it yourself.

 

[Crystal A]

Don't stir mine up. Like bean girl said nassarius snails are great at naturally keeping it agitated. I do however vacuum in low flow areas If I find a lot of ditrius build up. I don't do this on a regular basis as it kills off the natural micro fauna in the sand that is beneficial but every once in a while I just need to get a little extra poop out of the tank. Lol

 

[Kristy3693]

So the answer is small things, like sand sifters, will do it very slow...naturally. You, being the "god" of your tank cannot go in and disrupt things on a "god" level. That will release too much into their water. So tiny cleanings would mimic natural disturbance. If your going to adjust your sand bed, be very light on the touch....or you can kill things with your mightiness. Hope that helps...had a few cocktails..

 

[Beengirl]

So the answer is small things, like sand sifters, will do it very slow...naturally. You, being the "god" of your tank cannot go in and disrupt things on a "god" level. That will release too much into their water. So tiny cleanings would mimic natural disturbance. If your going to adjust your sand bed, be very light on the touch....or you can kill things with your mightiness. Hope that helps...had a few cocktails..

Makes perfect sense to me!! Perfect explanation! Even with the cocktails!! Haha

 

[Loomin8]

This then could cause the sulfur funk emitting from the tank. A few weeks back I stirred it up. I should just stick to sitting cocktails! ?