pbnj Posted June 6, 2010 Share Posted June 6, 2010 I got tired of looking at my dirty sandbed, so I started siphoning it out today. I plan out removing it all over the next few weeks and replacing it with a very shallow, new sandbed (just enough to cover the bottom). Mind you, my original sandbed was only about 1 1/2 inches deep, but look at this disgusting mess..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrisfowler99 Posted June 6, 2010 Share Posted June 6, 2010 outside of cyano mine's not half bad. I've been siphoning out a lot lately because of that, though... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+dapettit Posted June 6, 2010 Share Posted June 6, 2010 I started dosing everclear to gi rid of byropsis. My sand bed was nasty no it's pristine. Took about 3 weeks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barderer Posted June 6, 2010 Share Posted June 6, 2010 oh its still nasty dapettit. Take out out and put it in a bucket and you shall get the above results. I have learned that yearly I just have to siphon out my whole bed, strain it, and put it back in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daisy82 Posted June 6, 2010 Share Posted June 6, 2010 Mine always looked kind of dirty until I added a tiger tail sea cucumber - now my sand sparkles! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+KeeperOfTheZoo Posted June 6, 2010 Share Posted June 6, 2010 My mixed sand/CC bed has always looked kinda grungy. Sand sifting snails and a big conch have helped a little bit. Ive considered a cucumber but I'm afraid of it nuking my tank. I'm starting to see the logic behind a bare bottom tank. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+dapettit Posted June 6, 2010 Share Posted June 6, 2010 My mixed sand/CC bed has always looked kinda grungy. Sand sifting snails and a big conch have helped a little bit. Ive considered a cucumber but I'm afraid of it nuking my tank. I'm starting to see the logic behind a bare bottom tank. I still have a black cucumber available for sale/trade. Had for since August of last year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishypets Posted June 6, 2010 Share Posted June 6, 2010 I vacume my sand bed each time I do a water change. I break the sand bed up in thirds and vacume a third with each w.c. Keeps my sand bed somewhat clean and free of detritus. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+dapettit Posted June 6, 2010 Share Posted June 6, 2010 What about the bacteria in the sandbed. Is that effected by moving all this sand around? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
August Posted June 6, 2010 Share Posted June 6, 2010 I will be removing the sandbed from my torn down tank soon who knows what it will look like... ewwwww its amazing what we think is clean to our eyes in fact isnt once we stir it up and move it... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+KeeperOfTheZoo Posted June 6, 2010 Share Posted June 6, 2010 You ready to give that cuke away yet Dave? How long is it? I guess I might need it, And a frag of purple monti! I *think* I'll be in Austin the end of next week, I'll holler at ya when I know for sure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+dapettit Posted June 6, 2010 Share Posted June 6, 2010 Yep got both. The size is dependant on where he is eating. Fridays are best for us as Robin is off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timfish Posted June 6, 2010 Share Posted June 6, 2010 That's why I prefer a thin sand bed, just enough for looks and to set the rocks on. That's clean compared to what I've seen moving tanks that have been undisturbed for years. ' Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrisfowler99 Posted June 6, 2010 Share Posted June 6, 2010 Cleanest my sandbed looked was when I had a Diamond Goby. The problem was it didn't want the sand where I did...but it was clean. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Lamont Posted June 6, 2010 Share Posted June 6, 2010 My sand bed is spotless. I use to have a K2 and k3 and that did a good job, then i switched to a wave box and now i have flow every direction. I also have some nassarius snails that stir it up pretty well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pbnj Posted June 7, 2010 Author Share Posted June 7, 2010 My sand bed is spotless. I use to have a K2 and k3 and that did a good job, then i switched to a wave box and now i have flow every direction. I also have some nassarius snails that stir it up pretty well. In my 75g, I had 3 Koralia's (two 4's and a 3), a full-sized Tunze Wavebox, plus the return from my Mag18. My sand looked decent after waterchanges, but looks can be deceiving. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Lamont Posted June 7, 2010 Share Posted June 7, 2010 My sand bed is spotless. I use to have a K2 and k3 and that did a good job, then i switched to a wave box and now i have flow every direction. I also have some nassarius snails that stir it up pretty well. In my 75g, I had 3 Koralia's (two 4's and a 3), a full-sized Tunze Wavebox, plus the return from my Mag18. My sand looked decent after waterchanges, but looks can be deceiving. Please explain! So I can see if i am being deceived. Lol How often do you do water changes because i do it weekly. I would like to know what you look for to determine if something is wrong with your sand bed. My wave box has been running for a full week with out any power heads and i have not had a build up of anything. I will continue to watch closely though. I will post a video so you will be able to look and tell me if i will have any troubles ahead. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pbnj Posted June 7, 2010 Author Share Posted June 7, 2010 Please explain! So I can see if i am being deceived. Lol How often do you do water changes because i do it weekly. I would like to know what you look for to determine if something is wrong with your sand bed. My wave box has been running for a full week with out any power heads and i have not had a build up of anything. I will continue to watch closely though. I will post a video so you will be able to look and tell me if i will have any troubles ahead. The best way to guage how dirty the sandbed is would be to stir-up a very small section. If you see a milky/cloudy bunch of water rise from the sandbed, it would look like my picture above if you were to remove it. I would stir-up little sections during waterchanges thinking I was keeping it clean, but really, you can see how filthy it really was. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Lamont Posted June 7, 2010 Share Posted June 7, 2010 I think mine would be pretty clean then. Because i stir it up when i do water changes and i dont see any brown cloudyness. I think its because i cleeaned the sand bed three times before i added it to the new tank. Trying to get all snail and crab shells out from my previous tank. I also have more mechanical filtration than most. I run two canister filters on my system. One is rated for a 150g and the other is for a 75g and i clean them weekly. Im posting a video of the wave maker so you can check out the sand bed. its constantly being push by the current and no cloudyness.(even when i first put it in there) Let me know what you think. <br><br><br><br> <br><br><a href=" " class="bbc_url" title="External link" rel="external"><br></a> Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesL Posted June 7, 2010 Share Posted June 7, 2010 Mine is so-so on the "hidden dirt"... but I have problems with coraline actually growing on the sand and turning it purply/red (and no, it is not cyno). My clown keeps a section clean, and I have two cukes that turn some over. I was hoping a rather large conch that I got from Keeper would help turn some over, but he just hides all the time. When I did my tank re-arranging this weekend I went looking for him and found him... still alive, but after a few hours he went right back underground. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+dapettit Posted June 7, 2010 Share Posted June 7, 2010 pbnj, when cleaning the sand like you do aren't you losing your anerobic bacteria? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pbnj Posted June 7, 2010 Author Share Posted June 7, 2010 pbnj, when cleaning the sand like you do aren't you losing your anerobic bacteria? With all of the liverock I have in my tank, I'm not concerned about insufficient, beneficial bacteria. Besides, my sandbed wasn't deep enough to house any significant amounts of either aerobic or anaerobic bacteria. I'm convinced this will be a good thing. That "waterchange" look has already lasted a lot longer than usual. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pbnj Posted June 7, 2010 Author Share Posted June 7, 2010 I think mine would be pretty clean then. Because i stir it up when i do water changes and i dont see any brown cloudyness. I think its because i cleeaned the sand bed three times before i added it to the new tank. Trying to get all snail and crab shells out from my previous tank. I also have more mechanical filtration than most. I run two canister filters on my system. One is rated for a 150g and the other is for a 75g and i clean them weekly. Im posting a video of the wave maker so you can check out the sand bed. its constantly being push by the current and no cloudyness.(even when i first put it in there) Let me know what you think. <br><br><br><br> <br><br><a href=" " class="bbc_url" title="External link" rel="external"><br></a> That sandbed is actually deeper than mine was. I don't know how often or how much you feed, or even how long your tank has been set-up, but it's something to monitor as the months go on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Lamont Posted June 7, 2010 Share Posted June 7, 2010 I think mine would be pretty clean then. Because i stir it up when i do water changes and i dont see any brown cloudyness. I think its because i cleeaned the sand bed three times before i added it to the new tank. Trying to get all snail and crab shells out from my previous tank. I also have more mechanical filtration than most. I run two canister filters on my system. One is rated for a 150g and the other is for a 75g and i clean them weekly. Im posting a video of the wave maker so you can check out the sand bed. its constantly being push by the current and no cloudyness.(even when i first put it in there) Let me know what you think. <br><br><br><br> <br><br><a href=" " class="bbc_url" title="External link" rel="external"><br></a> That sandbed is actually deeper than mine was. I don't know how often or how much you feed, or even how long your tank has been set-up, but it's something to monitor as the months go on. I feed everyday but very little. This tank was converted from two 40g tanks about 1 month ago. Those tanks have been running since Nov 09. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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