Sand bed “to stir or not to stir”

[Lhart901]

quick question my sand gets pretty dirty, and I like to stir it up a bit every few days. I also like to vacuum very good during my weekly water changes.

I have lost quite a few fish lately with no signs or visible issues with them at all.

Could stirring the sand be causing a problem??

I’ve tried to do research but can’t seem to get a definitive answer. I look forward to the debate that will follow. Thanks in advance!

 

[revhtree]

If things are going well then I'm not touching it!

But normally I don't stir it. Every once in a while I will.

 

[don_chuwish]

Since you already stir it often I doubt that is the issue. It can be dangerous when you have a 3-4” plus deep sand bed that never gets stirred up.

 

[cmcoker]

If its not a new practice, I would not think it would cause deaths. I regularly blow the sand around when blasting rocks, and use a vacuum with issues.

What time period did the fish die over? when was the last death?
When did you last add anything wet, ie coral, snail, rock, macros, etc?

 

[theMeat]

Depends on how deep, how much of whole sand bed, and how long sandbed has been undisturbed

Old, deep, sand bed that hasn’t been disturbed. Don’t mix too much at once

 

[Crabs McJones]

Cant stir what isnt there

 

[rkpetersen]

I don't stir up my sandbed in a way that throws tons of organic detritus into the water column. I do vacuum the (reachable) sandbed at intervals as part of a water change, which removes an impressive amount of crud from the system.

 

[Crazeh]

Following on from other posts the theory is that in well established tanks mixing the bed can kill off bacteria in the bottom layers leading to ammonia spikes. If you do it frequently then likely not an issue.

 

[PDR]

I have been going back and forth on whether or not to stir/ siphon my sandbed. I didn't do it for a couple of years, then I started doing it regularly, and honestly, I can't tell much of a difference. If anything my tank is not as stable as it was. Not much comes out of the sand any more if I stir or siphon, and while it looks great after being freshly stirred, it looks about how it always does by the next afternoon.

There also seems to be a lot of debate about how bad the "gunk" in the sandbed really is for your tank. Some seem to think it's harmless and others think it is the sole reason for most tank crashes.

 

[BigJohnny]

Following on from other posts the theory is that in well established tanks mixing the bed can kill off bacteria in the bottom layers leading to ammonia spikes. If you do it frequently then likely not an issue.

That's not really the concern, the main concern is the release of hydrogen sulfide from anoxic zones.

 

[MTBake]

I leave mine alone. I do have loads of cerith snails and some nassarius snails to help mix it for me though. I also have a yellow watchman and pistol shrimp pair that keeps their area of the reef pretty clean. And some type of worm is also creating piles of freshly stirred sand in my tank recently. Still haven't seen the culprit though.

 

[DoobDob]

I don't touch my sand bed, my diamondback watchman goby moves the sand enough. I also have a fighting conch that moves sand around, not as much as the goby though.

 

[Jmareef1022]

Funny thing is I HAD a 5+ years of untouched sanded and decided I wanted a tiger pistol shrimp, I won't say no more. But yes stirring is not necessary if everything is stable you'll be ok.

 

[themcfreak]

Engineer Goby, Sand Sifting Star, and Pistol Shrimp (along with nassarius) seem to do the trick for me. Sometimes ill poke around the sand just to make sure it isn't solid, but that's about it.

 

[Forsaken77]

This is a tough subject for me. In the earlier days it was "don't disturb your sand bed," which actually worked well for me. Now, it's clean the heck out of your sand, which has caused more issues for me. So I'm torn.

 

[Kimberely]

I mostly leave mine alone but it's a shallow sand bed and I have a diamond goby, tiger conch, nassarius snails and a sea cucumber that sift it pretty thoroughly for me.

 

[Vahanyos]

Let your critters do it!!

 

[cracker]

Iv'e been vacuuming my sand bed soon after cycle . i have ignored in the past & these sand beds just trapped a bunch of gunk. it's not snowy white or anything but no GHA lawn .

 

[Rcpilot]

This is a tough subject for me. In the earlier days it was "don't disturb your sand bed," which actually worked well for me. Now, it's clean the heck out of your sand, which has caused more issues for me. So I'm torn.

Do what works. No reason to be torn. If NOT stirring gave better results.... do that.

 

[Waters]

Depends on the depth...true deep sand beds need to be left alone.....anything else can be stirred (I stir mine all the time).