Sand maintenance, advice needed!

[rskillz]

My tank (72) has been up and running 8 months and I've never cleaned the 2 inch sand bed. EVER. I know right? Well, I have a sleeper goby that churns it through his gills 24/7 and does a nice job, but I've never actually siphon cleaned it...

And a few people theorize my sandbed may be leeching some nutrients into my water, which is slowly my SPS growth and happiness.

So, what now? I just got a new siphon cleaning tube specifically built to clean sand, but I'm almost scared to touch the sand.

Should I jump in and clean it completely during my next water change? Do it bit by bit? Or just leave it alone?

Any opinions would be helpful!

 

[gnashty]

I think the worst thing you can do right now is to churn it all up and try to vacuum it all out. I have heard that people who have done this have wiped out entire tanks overnight...

What makes you think your SB is leaching nutrients? Have you tried some nerite (sp?) snails or other sandsifting creatures? what are your params? I bet your SPS woes are from another source.

I have never heard of an untouched sandbed as a bad thing but i would love to hear what others say, this is just MHO.

 

[rskillz]

My params are near perfect, I have 10-20 sand sifting snails as well as a cucumber. I made a very long thread detailing my struggle to grow SPS on RC and just about all anyone could guess was wrong was my sandbed. Then again, most SPS obsessed reefers don't really like sandbeds in the first place.

 

[peachyreef]

When people set up their tanks we would tell them to...
A) clean the sand bed with every water change or
B) never touch it.

Your sand bed is where most of your nitrogen cycle takes place. Nitrates are bad, Nitrite is lethal, and ammonia restarts the cycle. If you mess with it now, all at once you will be able to detect all of these, which will shock the system.

If you really think it is sand, you need to take it out very slowly. What exactly are they thinking is leaching into your water?
(what type of heater d you use? off the wall question lol)

As far as the sps goes, have you seen any growth? and which type do best?
I really hope you figure this out, Its baffling and I know its frustrating.

 

[crewdawg1981]

After only 8 months I'd be hard pressed to believe that your sand bed has gone bad. I had good growth on a sand bed of similar depth that was 2 years old and I never touched it.

I know you said your params are good... but is your cal up to par? what about pH and alk?

 

[gmpolan]

agreed, i think your sps woes are from some other source...post your params and alittle more info on the set up if you dont mind