Stirring up substrate - y/n?

[paintman]

Stir my entire sandbed every other week in conjunction with blowing off all the rock. I hit the tank with a floculant and run a power filter overnight. In the morning tank is crystal clear and the corals are wide frikin open! Zero dino's, zero algae issues. Best part is i don't waste any money on clean up crews, and I don't feel guilty about killing them for know good reason. Take it for what its worth.

 

[jda]

Do you worry that flocculant can remove waterborne bacteria and protozoa that can feed corals? Curious. Which flocculant do you use?

 

[vetteguy53081]

I have contradicting information, so wanted to see what folks here say about the dangers of stirring up the exiting substrate - some say doing so will cause a complete tank crash due to trapped gases under the substrate being released. Isn't that the same as putting in a gravel cleaner of some sort to stir up and remove detritus on the substrate level?

Over many years, never have. Its bad enough when siphoning sandbed, the little stir up it causes, some of my coral close up and it does impact water quality although temporarily.

 

[LPS Bum]

I use sugar sand (oolitic), so I can’t siphon it. I turkey baste my sand bed once a week, and it keeps it white and clean. I let my ReefMat and skimmer pull out any gunk it stirs up, and the corals seem to like it too.

Never once had a problem, but then again I’ve never let organics and sludge build up there.

 

[paintman]

Do you worry that flocculant can remove waterborne bacteria and protozoa that can feed corals? Curious. Which flocculant do you use?

1. Nope
2. I use calcium carbonate much like sunnyx does.

Unfortunately I think there are way to many in this hobby who tend to over think things. Not to mention over buy.

KISS method

 

[Quietman]

Little common sense with a basic understanding of how anoxic conditions affect toxic compounds in deeper sandbeds will let you manage, clean and stir to your hearts content. There’s no one right answer. Shallow sand bed can almost be stirred at will even after months with almost no concern. Might have a cloudy tank but nothing a sponge or sock can’t fix in an hour.

The deeper and longer it’s gone without stirring or agitation the less you should do at one time until you’ve got it all on a fairly routine stirring schedule. Assuming 6” fine sand is deepest you’d ever have, I wouldn’t stir more than 1/4 of tank area or a couple square feet if larger tank at once and if it’s been years maybe only top few inches to start. Wait a week do another section.

It’s rare to see tank wipe outs from releasing toxic compounds. But just from not having your livestock and filtration system dealing with a ton a gunk all at once it makes sense to go slow at first.