Sand Beds

[mc524]

Do you guys stir your sand beds at all? Or do you leave it alone?

I don't have any problems with mine per say. However, I do have some algae that forms on the glass at the sand bed or below.
I jumped on Youtube and found a video where a guy vividreefs or something like that...he said its important to stir the sand bed once a week.

I have snails that do a lot of this for me. I thought I would ask though...see if there was something I was missing during my regular tank cleanings. I typically scrap the glass, or just wipe it with Wand/Scrubber, blow off the rocks with Turkey Baster, and then let the water clear up. Once that is done, I do my W/C.

 

[winkkle]

Never stir it or you'll release a lot of bad stuff and create an ammonia spike. I'd syphon a small layer from the top if you messed with it at all. Also, I've read people replacing small portions of sand with new sand every now and then.

 

[rdnelson]

winkkle;816517 wrote: never stir it or you'll release a lot of bad stuff and create an ammonia spike. I'd syphon a small layer from the top if you messed with it at all. Also, i've read people replacing small portions of sand with new sand every now and then.

+1

 

[jef4y]

Get a diamond goby. You'll never have to touch your sandbed again.

 

[kirkplunkett]

JeF4y;816522 wrote: Get a diamond goby. You'll never have to touch your sandbed again.

I got one of those little guys and he reeked havoc in my 30 gallon. The display constantly stayed cloudy. He definitely did his job, but a little too well. I had to get rid of him... But he jumped out instead.

 

[raz0945]

A diamond goby is one of the larger sand sifters, they need a 75 or larger without corals on the sand(unless you don't mind uncovering them everyday).:lol2: I know from experience, as mine got older he slowed down a little but he still covered corals close to his cave. Holley

 

[mc524]

Yeah he made mention of Nitrate issues if you never stir it. He said if you haven't done it, start with small sections. Otherwise if you do it once a week, it's not a problem. He had like a 400gal Reef tank that looked very healthy.
Not saying I will do it, but I wanted to see if others did this or not.
I tried a Goby once. He didn't last long for some reason. While he was alive, he made a mess of rocks and corals.
I have a sand sifting starfish, as well as plenty of snails. So I am not too concerned.
What he was doing made sense though...if you stir up the dust and let the filtration do it's job, it allows for more filtration of the sand bed instead of clogged with food or other waste.

Sent from my XT907 using Tapatalk 2

 

[darth reefer]

You can stir your sandbed but only if you have done it from day one. If you have never stirred it then don't as it has had time to build up toxins. I keep quite a few nassarius snails and three fighting conch who keep my sand turned over for me. The conch are amazing at keeping algae out of the sand.

 

[superclown]

ive had 2 or 3 diamond goby's never had good luck with them my cat got the first one after he jumped out the tank so lesson learned do not have these in a shallow tank with no lid. Second one i had buried one of my clams and i forgot about it and didn't notice it missing till it was too late so i sold him. The third one i had better luck with but the combination of really fine sand, small tank, hi flow kept the tank cloudy looking so i got rid of that one.

I think you would be best to lightly vacuume the sand or get you a smaller sand sifter than the diamond goby

 

[ralph atl]

if you have any sand, you need to manage it like anything else....

I found the best way for me, it to either:

1) Vacuum it up with a wetvac a section at a time and replace

or


2) scoop up with a net every 4 weeks or so and replace


sandbeds build up nutrients, especially, trates.....

 

[eagle9252]

dont forget the twinspot.

i have the dimond, twinspot and the sleeper something. he is the biggest and scoops of a large mouth full and goes 3/4 of the way up the tank and lets it loose. we call him "bomber" and i have an engineer slithering under the rocks