Is auto water change overrated with sand?

[Jax15]

I have a new build, a Waterbox 130.4. From the beginning I planned on setting up auto water change, running a line through the wall to a holding tank in my laundry room. I’m at the point now where it’s ready to set up.. but I’m having doubts whether it’s even worth it. I have sand, and one of the most important parts of the WC for me is getting to vac up all the funk and get the sand bed back to a gleaming white. AWC would make my life a lot easier.. but won’t the sand just end up looking really funky after a while? Curious what others here have done to get the benefit of AWC, but still keep their sand pristine.

Would welcome suggestions!

Here’s my tank if you’re curious, and the adjacent wall where my salt container would sit - you can just see the 20g brute in the back corner. (I also have a drain in this room which is perfect):

 

[Bouncingsoul39]

I’d do the awc but still vac the sand once a month manually.

 

[Flippers4pups]

A automatic water change shouldn't have much of any impact on sand quality. Detritus settled in/on the sand and the amount of beneficial bacterial would determine it's looks.

 

[Bramzor]

The reason I would and will do automated water changes asap is for the simple reason that if I screw up (which I will probably do at one time), I hope these water changes will buy me enough time or even prevent crashes because of these screw ups.

So I think the question should be like: “Am I certain enough that I will do everything perfectly from the first time?”

It just buys you some time to which you could use the first years keeping a tank. After that I think you might be able to go without auto waterchanges. It also makes it dang easy if they are automated and simple system.

Also I think that waterchanges shouldn’t be only for vac the sand. It’s an easy way to do it but I use a filter sock and my sump for that. Water runs down through the filter sock filtering out the small particles and water goes straight back into the tank.

 

[naterealbig]

For me, water changes are the most likely to get skipped (and one of the most important evolutions for a new tank). The water change is 10x more likely to get done if I don't have to do it. I have a ton of flow in my system, and a shallow sand bed. I stir it up twice a week, and the flow pushes most of the detritus into the overflow, so it stays clean. Another option would be to run your vacuum hose directly to a filter sock while your vacuuming.

 

[Jax15]

Thanks for the suggestions. Do you also vac the sand once in a while using the sock/sump method, or do you feel stirring alone frequently is sufficient to dislodge the detritus?

For me, water changes are the most likely to get skipped (and one of the most important evolutions for a new tank). The water change is 10x more likely to get done if I don't have to do it. I have a ton of flow in my system, and a shallow sand bed. I stir it up twice a week, and the flow pushes most of the detritus into the overflow, so it stays clean. Another option would be to run your vacuum hose directly to a filter sock while your vacuuming.

 

[naterealbig]

I have used the vacuum to sock method before, but currently I only stir. There are two key components to this that make it a successful long term solution:

1. High circulation flow - the high flow is what keeps the detritus suspended long enough to bring it to the over flow.

2. Good return pump flow - when I stir my sandxi crank up my return pump to about 10x turnover. This gets the detritus that is being suspended by the circulation flow, to the sock.

If I was missing either or both of these components, I would use the vacuum to sock method.