The best, healthiest sand bed?

[camellia]

I would like to hear from the old timers here, thoughts on the best, healthiest sand bed....

My CUC don't stir up much so I bought a Pink spotted Goby. It spit sand at me in the LFS but never touches the sand now.

In my previous tanks I didn't stir the sand much and had tons of Pods and could see bristle worms in the sand and rocks when I fed. I had great growth and no algae issues.
Since I set up this 75 I've got more open sand bed area and have kept it stirred and super clean but I don't seem to have as many pods, worms, ....

Is is good to stir up the entire available area of sand bed every other week when doing a water change?

Thanks

 

[camellia]

Bump

 

[davidinga]

Bassett22;988200 wrote: That is such a loaded question. Any sand bed can be beneficial or nothing but trouble depending on up keep, feeding, flow, grain size, depth, blah blah... There are just too many variables to make solid claims, the subject is heavily debated in the hobby.

This.

So just to clarify the answer he wanted to give but didn't...the best sand bed is no sand bed (bare bottom) if potential problems are what your trying to avoid.

 

[northgahillbilly]

DavidinGA;988330 wrote: This.

So just to clarify the answer he wanted to give but didn't...the best sand bed is no sand bed (bare bottom) if potential problems are what your trying to avoid.

I wanted to say it, glad you did so Im not starting it, just stirring the pot :up:

 

[reeferman]

i dont touch my sandbed at all.its about 4 years old in this setup.my 4 leopards keep their sleeping areas stirred by diving and waking everyday,my maroon keeps her area stirred by housecleaning and the only other critter doing anything is two conchs.
i top off the sand about once a year but i never vacuum or stir the sand myself.

 

[dawgface]

Deep sand bed> 2" do not stir.

Shallow sand bed < 2" stir weekly.

In my opinion keeping a shallow bed stirred, disrupted and replaced often is best. Relying on rock as the primary surface area for bacteria.

In my 90 gallon I stir, siphon and clean debris weekly. Replacing a large bowl (extra large cereal bowl) of actual sand monthly.

 

[fishdude]

It all depends on what you want your sand bed to do. Is it there to look nice, is it intended for fish like wrasses and gobies or is it intended for micro organisms?

 

[saltbubbles]

Mine is shallow and I vacuum it every water change. I had a deeper one before upgrading but I just couldn't stop thinking of the foul smell from that sand when we moved the tank(bought it running).

I've read People report a nitrate spike after introducing diamondback gobies(for example) into a tank that has an un disturbed sandbed.

 

[davidinga]

If I didn't have wrasses I'd go BB myself.

 

[camellia]

DawgFace;988361 wrote:


In my 90 gallon I stir, siphon and clean debris weekly. Replacing a large bowl (extra large cereal bowl) of actual sand monthly.

Love this idea!



Thanks for all the comments and advise.

My sand bed is right at the 2" mark. Since I've been cleaning it regularly and it's still "new" sand, I guess I'll continue.

I do want wrasse, hopefully in the next two weeks I'll have two. I'm ordering more pods (there free ship this week). It's just a "thing" I have about wanting to SEE pods crawling around.

 

[bluespot]

reeferman;988339 wrote: i dont touch my sandbed at all.its about 4 years old in this setup.my 4 leopards keep their sleeping areas stirred by diving and waking everyday,my maroon keeps her area stirred by housecleaning and the only other critter doing anything is two conchs.
i top off the sand about once a year but i never vacuum or stir the sand myself.

I am going on 2 years and dont touch mine either. I have 2 sand sifting stars, 2 conchs, and about 10 large nassarius snails that burrow in my 92g. Also a bluespot jawfish that stirs around his hole. No issues with anything building up on the bed or any algae. I do add more as needed.

 

[brick fish house]

One of my favorite things about this hobby is the many ways that things can be done. In my experience, as long as a routine is planned and figured out and done consistently, it generally produces a good result.

 

[snowmansnow]

I'm considering the same questions about sand beds myself as I'm considering a new build.
I've never really had a DSB, and I'm not sure I ever will with today's advanced filtration equipment. Heck, I'm not even sure I want a sand bed at all. For years I did a 2-3' shallow bed, but the problem was I couldn't keep it agitated enough because of corals / rocks... I could ever only get to maybe 1/4 of it. The rest was stagnant under rocks and coral growth.

It DOES look good, but I'm seriously considering a BB when I reset...

Just thoughts.
B