Is a consistently clean sand bed an attainable goal?

[Greenstreet.1]

I keep a sand sifter just for the purpose

 

[Amps Reef Life]

Yes!!! My sand use to be very clean but now that I am under a high bioload the sand doesn't stay clean lol. I use a turkey baster on my sand once a week sometimes once every two weeks because I have other things going on. I feel like I should be doing it twice a week to keep it clean. All I do is blow/stir up the top layer of the sand bed to suspend all the particles in the water so my filter socks and filter media can catch it. At times I think to myself I wouldn't have a sand bed if I didn't love wrasse so much. I have to keep one.... I love Wrasse especially leopards. Should I say it a third time? I love Wrasse there you go I said lol. I have a total of 5 wrasse that burry in the sand at night and a total of 7 in the tank. I'm currently on the hunt for a chaoti wrasse which will be another sand sleeping wrasse. I have a deeper sand bed than I ever have in the past as I planned on it for the fish that need it. Sometimes I feel like giving up on keeping it clean. Half the bed stays stirred with the wrasse going in and out between bedtime. A diamond goby is not an option to many corals on or near the sand bed I've been through that problem before.

 

[Richie27]

i have a little horseshoe crab that goes back-and-forth keeping the sand nice and clean

 

[madweazl]

My diamond goby is ....... completely useless!

Really? Mine goes non-stop! Well, he/she turns in about 8:45 in the evening and works on a place to sleep but otherwise, the little sucker is a workhorse; I have a tiger sand conch, some nassarius snails, and the pistol shrimp that add to the cause but nobody comes close to the work the goby puts in.

 

[ca1ore]

Yes, hasn't sifted any sand in years. Just sits there on his fins waiting for something tasty to float by. It is quite old (prob 8 yrs) and clearly overfed.

 

[reefwiser]

I use DE filters and an external canister filter used as a vacuum to clean the inside of the tank.

 

[67chevellemalibu2]

My sand is cleaned once a month and the rest of the time my Diamond Goby takes care of it. That little guy is awesome and my sand is pristine.

 

[Javier Leon]

I put a diamond goby and my Nitrate went flying to the sky, the results of the test will turn to blood of how RedSea Max S-650 LED it was, it took me a while to lower but now the goby disappeared and I removed the flow tee and left the return open full and since them the sand is whiter than ever am happier now I guess

 

[Acartia]

I have a 20 gallon with a 2 inch sand bed. I use tap water, I overfeed, and never clean the sand. It isn’t China white, but it looks very clean. The secret is a sand sifter star. I put it in over three years ago. It is now about 4 inches.

I read many bad things about them. After I bought it, of course. But I have no complaints.

 

[Proteus Meep]

I gravel syphon my very shallow sandbed weekly as the way i remove water for the water change, i also remove and replace half of the sand every few months to refresh it, been using this technique for the past 15 years with no issue... lovely bright white sand

 

[yepreef]

i get diamond goby and my sand stay clean

 

[Nobbygas]

Yep, I have a Diamond Goby in my RSM S-650. He does a fantastic job.

 

[Christopher Aslett]

In-Tank Systems

Stable reefs can be run long-term simply in an aquarium. Their maintenance schedules are more rigorous. If you recall from the introduction, the accumulation of detritus is the main reason why reef systems deteriorate. “In-tank” forms of filtration such as deep sand beds and plenums are destined to fail and are therefore not recommended here. The denitrification potential of deep sand beds and plenums is very valuable whilst they remain relatively detritus free. Due to the presence of hydrogen sulphide, “in-tank” systems are not able to be cleaned or maintained safely and accumulate detritus on a daily basis. If you start a system with a deep sand bed of plenum in the main display, you have a ticking timebomb that will eventually go off. You might manage to run for two years perhaps even four, but eventually the system health will rapidly decline.


Deep Sand Beds and Plenums in Sumps

In a sump, plenums and deep sand beds can be very useful. The water that enters the sump can be pre-skimmed with a protein skimmer and prefiltered before it flows over the plenum or deep sand bed. This makes the water mostly detritus free and thus prolongs the life of the sand bed or plenum for years. Years later, when the sand bed or plenum begins to decline, it can be safely isolated from the main display - whilst the reef continues to run “in-tank” - and it can be stripped, cleaned and re-established.

Chris

 

[Christopher Aslett]

Just thought I'd post a photo. Bare bottom tank only in the displays on my old commercial reef. It had a DSB of footprint 12 foot x 3 foot. Pre filtered and pre skimmed. Yuo are looking at a photograph of the hard coral display after running four years. Natural levels of nutrients.

Chris

 

[Amps Reef Life]

I use DE filters and an external canister filter used as a vacuum to clean the inside of the tank.

@reefwiser I like your style, sir. I can't believe I haven't thought of this. Definitely going to be trying this in the very near future.

 

[brandon429]

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/detritus-is-it-as-bad-as-some-make-out.300047/page-8#post-4724536

That thread says detritus is ok, pack it in.

This thread seems to imply detritus needs to be cleaned, I guess we have a dueling of methods now via numbers, we're not storing up lots of waste here, people are either manually cleaning or using busy animals as cleaners. this thread linked there as well.

most of us start with hands off, and arrive as cleaners, or BB, due to invasion issues we actually liked the look of sand but were forced to make a move to reclaim our enjoyment of the investment.

others with large dilution and lucky assemblages don't have to worry, but I find that mighty hard to replicate and all the nano reefs we run online via message sharing are not storing waste, they're invasion free like that big tank pictured above bc we don't store waste however one wants to arrive at it.

I interpret Rev's subject not to be about pro or con detritus, but whether the battle is even worth it to try to keep a bed clean. in my opinion accessibility beats cleanliness

if someone has four hundred unremovable pounds of cemented live rock n corals, above 8 inches standard bed of 14 yrs ago, that's different than someone with 4x the waste in the bed but with a fully liftable bommie-type aquascape.

the fact the latter could clean it if needed, or if they get dinos , matters more than the meticulous chase for the white bed.

my own sandbed will not pass a clouding test right now, been lazy.

but

I can have my entire reef taken apart and on dinner plates within 20 mins tank flipped upside down draining in the dish bin... if I get some cyano Ill do some work. if not, lazy on it seems to be running ok.

I don't chase a clean bed, I just will it when needed bc the arrangement allows for that. usually twice a year or once a year really deep cleans where Ill take it apart/detritus free only to be lazy to it for another 11 mos. 12 yrs now.

 

[vlangel]

I use DE filters and an external canister filter used as a vacuum to clean the inside of the tank.

I really like that idea and its so amazingly simple I am shocked that I never saw it before or thought of it myself. Thanks.

 

[cracker]

I have always been vexed with Ha growing on my sand beds of more than several tanks over the years. Can't vacuum it, I must take the sand with it. I had a cucumber that did a good job. Even with carefully controls low nutrients.Now I'm not looking for spotless sand but please no more HA ! The hunt for a workable methods continues . The sand is gone in my 75 reef. However I do have a relatively new S B in the 180. his is where I will put a lot more effort in keeping it clean,come up with a workable way to do it.
I "think" that rinsing new sand dry or live of all silt before adding is a good 1st step to a long term "cleaner" sand bed ,Which I didn't do of course .I got this theory from reading Brandon's thread.

 

[Catchemall]

Really? Mine goes non-stop! Well, he/she turns in about 8:45 in the evening and works on a place to sleep but otherwise, the little sucker is a workhorse; I have a tiger sand conch, some nassarius snails, and the pistol shrimp that add to the cause but nobody comes close to the work the goby puts in.

My diamond goby has his bed time too they’re so funny. He goes in his cave and close the door behind him. When I got him my tank was a mess with floating sand for a couple weeks but my sand went from nasty to brand new white within a evening! Now all my fine particulates are filtered out and no more sand storm but he in my opinion is a must have if not only for the cleaning abilities but for his personality. Sometimes I wonder who’s watching who haha.

 

[Brian W]

I added 1 sand sifting starfish to my 85 gallon tank and my sand stays clean. I do nothing else to it to keep it clean.