This is how a sandbed looks when made able to pass a drop test/ zero clouding...sand grains fall back down harmlessly
Corals and rock removed before cleaning are set back on the rinsed bed, skip cycle reassembly as we've shown in this thread.
Several gallons of clean salt water is flushed through the bed as a final rinse after the tap water, this is my ongoing annual maintenance
it resets each time as if it was new
before cleaning after mos of hands off:
then the harsh cleaning, leaving absolutely zero detritus to recycle *the final rinse was in saltwater I didn't put corals back in over tap water*
This is the same vase 24 hrs later all put back, highly delicate with no dilution to protect against ammonia, it's health shows this is a skip cycle technique for 11 yrs:
My sand bed is immune to all forms of invasion through this method. For all the countless dosers, verification testing/ID threads, reactions we read about to diatoms and cyanobacteria invasions-- this sure is a cheap and effective alternate. Eleven years invasion free due to forced compliance by keeping the system clean. I imported the same invaders on my frags as anyone... but I didn't let them takeover
The size of the tank affords unique access it's much harder to do this in large tanks