Dakota9;464268 wrote: Wow, sounds like you've never vacuumed your sand, hence the 'trate issue you are having.
OK, first, put on a horse hair shirt and lash yourself across the back.......
Then get yourself an aquarium vacuum, a long narrow tube is better than a big one in a reef tank, as it's more agile around the rock base. Stick the tube end in the water, suck the other end (yes there's other ways, that's just the easiest....) and run the water in a 5 gallon bucket. stick the vacuum tube in the substrate. If your sand is very fine, you might have to slow the water by kinking or pinching the hose, which will slow the water flow and allow the sand to settle. Do this over all the exposed sand you can get to with the tube.
Then add your new water. You're going to have to do this every water change to keep your chemistry in order, least that's what I've always done.
As time goes by, nasty chemical changes can occur in a deep sand bed, and you'll only want to vacuum the top 1/2 inch or so as to not release stuff into the water column. If you have a shallow sand bed, this will not be an issue.
