How to remove sand?

[Lps_lover12]

My tank has been up and running for about 18 months now and I want to remove some sand. I find the sandbed too thick, I still want to keep a layer for my wrasses but it’s about 2” thick and it looks really gross where the sandbed meets the glass. There is all kinds of gunk built up in there.

I know I have to do it slowly but how slowly? And what should I use to take it out. I don’t want to risk any kind of cycle or algae to take off on new spots

 

[Pickle_soup]

Vacuum it out. Best way without kicking everything up into the water column. And it's the safest. Disturbing a deep sandbed can be disastrous.

 

[Lps_lover12]

Vacuum it out. Best way without kicking everything up into the water column. And it's the safest. Disturbing a deep sandbed can be disastrous.

Should I only do a certain area per day?

 

[Pickle_soup]

Should I only do a certain area per day?

Yeah. Right into a crappy bucket. So take some out as you do water changes. Or you can put a filter sock and catch it there while letting the water flow back into your sump.

 

[brandon429]

There is all kinds of gunk built up in there


that’s a key detail, you can kill your tank messing with sand in increments vs taking it out the right way. Here’s one example of fifty on file where messing with aged sand in any incremental method killed the setup

Sand Bed

I have a stable, successful (by my standards) tank for many years. I has a dsb which may or may not be relevant to that. Seems like all I read about DSB is anecdotal. So, I will add to it. I had to excavate a small section of my sand bed for a plumbing issue. With in 12 hours, both my tangs...

www.reef2reef.com

nearly everyone will still take the risk because they want to avoid the work involved in how to remove sand all at once, clean it externally, then put back whatever degree you want. So when you continue on with removing it partially despite what’s above you still have a 98% chance of success, but not 100%. If you want 100% success you’d do what the sand rinse thread shows for sixty pages of safe jobs.

 

[Pickle_soup]

There is all kinds of gunk built up in there


that’s a key detail, you can kill your tank messing with sand in increments vs taking it out the right way. Here’s one example of fifty on file where messing with aged sand in any incremental method killed the setup

Why is incremental unsafe?

 

[Lps_lover12]

There is all kinds of gunk built up in there


that’s a key detail, you can kill your tank messing with sand in increments vs taking it out the right way. Here’s one example of fifty on file where messing with aged sand in any incremental method killed the setup

Sand Bed

I have a stable, successful (by my standards) tank for many years. I has a dsb which may or may not be relevant to that. Seems like all I read about DSB is anecdotal. So, I will add to it. I had to excavate a small section of my sand bed for a plumbing issue. With in 12 hours, both my tangs...

www.reef2reef.com

nearly everyone will still take the risk because they want to avoid the work involved in how to remove sand all at once, clean it externally, then put back whatever degree you want. So when you continue on with removing it partially despite what’s above you still have a 98% chance of success, but not 100%. If you want 100% success you’d do what the sand rinse thread shows for sixty pages of safe jobs.

This is why I’ve put it off for so long and also may never do it. I don’t want to risk loosing everything, it’s just not worth it in my opinion. I’m already having issues with my corals that I cannot figure out and this may make it even worse

 

[brandon429]

Rip cleans make it better. Post a pic of your setup

Read this, are tanks better or worse:

Official Sand Rinse and Tank Transfer thread

If you are reading this thread to cure a tank invasion from a link I sent you, we do not need to identify your type of invasion here we do not need you to test anything at anytime regarding nitrate, phosphate etc Above all, we do not need to see a microscope slide picture of your invasion at...

www.reef2reef.com

We can improve your tank without messing with the sand. But if you want to mess with it that's the known safe way- disassembly cleaning and reassembly

A reason rip cleaning helps reefs on file is because being waste free allows you to feed much better which in turn boosts coral growth

 

[Lps_lover12]

Rip cleans make it better. Post a pic of your setup

Read this: are tanks better or worse:

Official Sand Rinse and Tank Transfer thread

If you are reading this thread to cure a tank invasion from a link I sent you, we do not need to identify your type of invasion here we do not need you to test anything at anytime regarding nitrate, phosphate etc Above all, we do not need to see a microscope slide picture of your invasion at...

www.reef2reef.com

We can improve your tank without messing with the sand. But if you want to mess with it that's the known safe way- disassembly cleaning and reassembly

Yeah don’t think I want to do all that work to be honest lol. Sending in an icp test soon and hoping that gives me an answer as to why my corals keep dying

 

[brandon429]

that is usually how it goes down agreed. an icp test can't help you in any way on sandbed actions though. for taking a guess at available nutrients in the water column, for charge, they're 100% great (see any of Randy's posts on icp test validity)