Do you stir your sand bed or vac?

[Jax15]

How do you maintain your sand bed? Do you use a gravel vac to clean it out every time you do a water change, do you stir it once a week, or just leave it be? There's some debate about what the best method is -- if you vac, you'll clean out old detritus and keep the water clean, but perhaps pull lots of good stuff out with it. If you stir, your sand will stay fresher but there may be a lot of detritus mixed in.

Post your preferred method and share your reasoning with the community!

 

[madweazl]

I vacuum the sand occasionally (once or twice a year typically).

 

[Waters]

I removed my entire sand bed, but when I had it, I would vacuum once a week and stir several times throughout the week.

 

[Fishurama]

I used to stir the first 1/4 inch when my tank was first starting. I may occasionally once a month stir the sandbed, but as long as I don't see detritus/"the brown stuff" start to build, i don't touch it. So I had to vote leave it alone, since that is best if not running into issues of "dirty sand." Since all you are otherwise doing is releasing bad stuff and killing micro fauna. But as stated, if you have a "dirty" sandbed, i understand.
I also have wrasse, so I try not killing them LOL

 

[chowberg]

I vacuum the exposed areas of the sand twice a month with my water change. I vacuum to the point where I don't see any detritus being removed. Every time I do it does remove a lot of detritus, maybe I'mv overfeeding.

 

[Idoc]

I shut off my pumps and then take a Turkey baster to my ticks to blow out all the debri...Pukani rocks have a lot of deep crevices fir junk! Then i lay it settle thi the sand bed and use the vacuum to ckean the sand during the water change.

 

[trmiv]

I have a shallow 1/2" to 1" sandbed. I usually vacuum it every week with my water change. I use a python for my water changes, and being able to shut off the suction, and move to a new spot turn turn it on again lets me pretty much vacuum all of my open sandbed in my Reefer 350 every week.

 

[Pennywise the Clown]

The first time I vacuumed my sand bed I woke up the next day to a display totally overrun by dinos. It took 4 months to get rid of them.
I haven't touched my sand bed since.

 

[tuesdayd]

I voted leave it alone since I don't do anything with it, but in full disclosure it's maintained by part of my cuc. Cerith and Nassarius snails, all kinds of pods, sand sifting starfish (don't tell the sss police), bristleworms and probably some other stuff I don't even know about.

 

[The District Reef]

I vacuumed my entire sandbed about a year after my tank was setup. The next morning, my yellow tang was a goner. I'm guessing the accumulation of junk that built up in the sand polluted the tank and took him out. Now I'll usually stir the sand a bit during a water change, and from time to time, I'll vacuum a small section.

 

[BirdGuy21]

I alternate between the sandbed and the back chambers of the AIO compartments. I vacuum the dead spots where detritus accumulates.

 

[Dragonreef202]

I just vacuum on the top when doing my water changes

 

[brandon429]

i take out all my corals and rocks and sit them on the counter

then rinse out the sandbed with tap water for 30 mins

then lastly in saltwater, then stack it all back in and redo it every 30 mos or so. the reason the rocks and coral sit on the counter for half an hour is to condition them for some kind of toughness one day I dont know its just a neat trait they have/can endure, most people store their corals and rocks in water during takedown cleaning (if thats ever even done, most actions are partial cleans in reefing)

a thorough cleaning like this prevents me from almost ever having to wipe the inside of the glass, it just runs clean. Small tank its easy, not as easy for large tanks. works great going on 8 yrs

 

[Clumsygoose]

Im forced to vote no, In wall tanks are cool unless you didnt give yourself front access and anything 2/3 down ends up as sps fragging. Might be overcompensating that with the 140g peninsula im trying to build, dino-snot sucks but im currently winning!

 

[Nasir]

I buy fish that take care of the sand for me. You don’t want to keep distributing the sand bed when you are trying keep an stable environment.

 

[ruskimax]

Slowly trying to rid my sewage-like sandbed after a few months of neglect earlier this year. Have been removing small ~5% portions abt every week, all the old snail shells clogging my python tube drive me nuts. Wish I have gone bare bottom from the start, nice to look at but turns into a complete septic tank if you let it.

 

[brandon429]

hey we can remove it all at once if you like, we have a massive thread already doing that in about 100 tanks

no probs

a benefit of doing it fast is getting a handle on detritus and nutrients now vs later, and the rocks can handle all tank bioload instantly, without ramp up, even if you remove the whole sand at once

its an option if you like, we like to document the work in removing them successfully

 

[lapin]

Used to vac every week with water changes. After 1 year I stopped. It is now maintained by the critters in my tank. Stir and no clouds appear. I think the fact I have not overstocked my tank so I dont have to feed a ton-o-food, feed frozen and live foods. I have the right mix of critters which helps a lot.
I also used to clean my skimmer neck. I found it did nothing good to clean it. It only caused me greef trying to dial it back in.

 

[ruskimax]

Hey Brandon. I’ve read a lot of your posts, you seem like a knowledgeable guy and I def appreciate all your recommendations to people. In my case, logistically mostly, it isn’t possible and my slow go method is working out very well for now. Keeping me in tune to things more then ever also. Next tanks, and def any nanos or picos, I set up in the future I’ll def be more aggressive w water changes and forego lots of “necessary “ gadgets for export.

 

[squaretwelve]

I vacuum mine once a week using this technique