The best way to vacuum your sand bed! Would this work?

[Clownfish_Boy]

This was most likely answered already but BRS sells these....

No Spill Clean & Fill Extended Gravel Tubes

Extended Gravel tubes for the Python No Spill Clean and Fill water changing system. If you need to replace your worn out, or simply just want to upgrade your water change system, we carry a variety of extended sizes. The standard Python systems come with a 10" gravel Tube. Great addition for...

www.bulkreefsupply.com

Thanks for the tip ! Just ordered me a 24"....

 

[Wen]

Mind if I add a dash of humor to this thread?

Can’t take credit for this meme.

My tank is 4 months old and battling the ugly stage. I vacuum part of the sand bed each weekly wc, but due to the amount of nasty stuff in this immature tank I added siphoning into a sock.
Keeping control of 8’ of hose while on a step ladder is risky, so Just invested in this acrylic sock holder to help me do the job safely. Holds the hose and sock securely, plus looks nice.

 

[brandon429]

This makes me wonder if for dry rock + large tank setups where access is so tough, if it wouldn’t be better to wait on adding sand, mature out the live rocks in bare bottom since it’s 200x easier to effect control over the uglies, and then when stabilized add 100% pre rinsed sand to the setup to complete the look. Washed sand is inert and harmless and doesn’t cause the uglies at all.

in our sand rinse thread where we swap sandbeds on fully matured reefs, all at once, the new grains caused zero harm, so they wouldn’t cause harm as a delayed addition either.

 

[h2so4hurts]

This was most likely answered already but BRS sells these....

No Spill Clean & Fill Extended Gravel Tubes

Extended Gravel tubes for the Python No Spill Clean and Fill water changing system. If you need to replace your worn out, or simply just want to upgrade your water change system, we carry a variety of extended sizes. The standard Python systems come with a 10" gravel Tube. Great addition for...

www.bulkreefsupply.com

So does amazon. Pythons are the OG large pond/tank vacuum. I have the 24".

I never understood the aversion to gravel cleaning in SW. It's the standard of care in FW, and it works just as well in SW.

 

[brandon429]

It’s because it kills the worms man


i rationalize it because the invasions still happened, and I spray for bugs around the house even though that kills em


theres merit in trying to build perfectly self-balancing beds, whatever reduces work will always take a lead in the hobby. We need a better set of assembly steps and timing before cleaning dies back out like it used to be in the hobby. In the late nineties nobody was cleaning sandbeds except Paul and look where that got his reef, to Gandalf maturity levels. Some worms died in his reef storm simulations for sure, they took one for the team


worms also died when a fish yanked them up when we weren’t looking

 

[Reef-Masters]

Does anyone know where Reef Dudes got that large vacuum like tube from?

Go to ace hardware and look at the plumbing fittings for drains. You can get black rubber fittings that go from 1”-3” or 1”-2” and more. “Ace is the place”

We use a canister filter at the store for our frag tank maintenance. Just remove all the media but the foam and fleece filters inside to capture the debris and put the return back in the tank.

 

[H3rm1tCr@b]

I just use one of those siphon thingies and/or a turkey baster to blow things around. I don’t like to disturb the sand too much though, as I have tons of weird little critters that live in it. When I didn’t have TBS rock, I’d have to constantly siphon the detritus, now there’s none!

 

[Trueblue17]

I don't like sand so I use dolomite gravel available at any museum or mausoleum. A couple of times a year I stir up all the gravel where I can reach and suck it out with a diatom filter. I put a long, rigid hose with a bend near the end on the outflow of the diatom filter.

This has only worked for fifty years but I hear after fifty one years you start to have problems. ;Meh

careful with all those bubbles coming out of the sandbed , i think thats very toxic to fish? , could possibly kill your fish i believe? but i guess after 50 years they must be used to it lol , your tank is older than i am ,50 years is 2 yeors older than me HaHaHa ,Nice job!

 

[brandon429]

Paul's detritus type is different from the commoner type which is literally caribsea sand unrinsed set on bottom of tank at 4 inches, a hundred pounds of live rock set on top, and not moved ten years. all blackened and red and green and bubbling, that's the dangerous type of setup.


Paul has the reverse: water pumps up through the bed, lessening incursion, this oxygenation renders the waste differently than the standard arrangement.

work threads would for sure show some doom if we disturbed old set-in beds, but not Pauls and not the stores of detritus Randy has laying around aerated in the sump. those are not stratified zones locked in variations of o2/waste gasses, pretty inert I bet.

an example of eutrophication arrest where you would not cloud up the sand in the tank/total wipeout if you did:

Everything dying pls help

Ok so I have never posted on here before but I just signed up bc I need help. I have a fluval evo 13.5 with an AI Prime. Starting around december I saw a little tissue necrosis on the bottom of my pocillopora, and I thought it was just bc it was not getting enough light, but within the next few...

www.reef2reef.com

organic decay, acidification and waste production and loss compounds from decay were killing that system (detritus)

when that factor was removed, the updates show what they show.

look at the overall color shifting from pic 1 yellow/grayish not reeflike/turtle grass zone of waste accumulation and slowed currents

then to the update pic which is dark/contrasting blues with pops and reef like...that's the - organics and much better orp condition and stability was restored.

 

[Feet4Fish]

It looks like acrylic or clear pvc tubing (in tank) joined to a reducing fitting using a flex pipe coupling.

example: (they make different sizes)

https://www.lowes.com/pd/EASTMAN-3-Pack-6-in-Flex-pipe-coupling/1002951670

If I remember the video I think it is an extension tune for a wet dry vac. I very well could be mistaken.

 

[Phil D.]

I recently started using one of these things stuffed full of filter floss to clean my sand bed:

It’s basically a small canister filter that hooks to the side of your tank and filters out the gunk before returning the water to the tank.
I don’t do manual water changes since I have a AWC system set up and my sump is in another room so just running the water through a filter sock and down to the sump isn’t an option for me.

Where did you get it? and is it available in the US? I currently use a Marineland Hang on the Tank 250 filter with a gravel vac attachment.

 

[Viking_Reefing]

Where did you get it? and is it available in the US? I currently use a Marineland Hang on the Tank 250 filter with a gravel vac attachment.

I got it through a Swedish version of Amazon (cdon.se), I believe the actual retailer was in Germany.
Unfortunately I have no idea if it’s available across the pond.
However, any old canister filter would probably do the job with a few minor alterations.

 

[Paul B]

careful with all those bubbles coming out of the sandbed , i think thats very toxic to fish? , could possibly kill your fish i believe?

My fish don't know that.
Those are not bubbles, that is detritus coming out of the gravel. Not really much in that video because I moved the tank here 2 years ago so the gravel is fairly clean. I want some detritus, just not enough to clog the reverse undergravel filter. (the only system that won't crash) if done properly)

AS I said, I don't like sand in a tank for many reasons.

 

[brandon429]

an extremely funny and personally entertaining aspect of sandbed use in reef tanks has been introducing the concept of tap water pre rinsing so new bagged live sand doesn’t do what my twenty links handy will show collecting reef tank issues using only the floc packet but no pre rinse.



this thread has been about cleaning in situ sand


but what about fresh out of the bag, only a loon would run that through tap water lol

we have reefs that haven’t cloud settled in a month, high flow setups. Pre rinse work reveals that character, before we stack pounds of rock on top. we’ll either reduce the sand down to larger grains in the prep, or realize we need a heavier sand during inspection



we’ve got rocks that slid down on day ten after using the floc but no pre rinse so cloudy they wondered if a cycle was coming back. they said the floc was a fix all, yet this fellas reef looks like skim milk? After cycle was complete?

totally unnecessary / pre rinse solves.



there is no help for a huge section of reefers in distress with heavily clouded new setups.




the one off reports from very nice reefs make the rules in reefing. Laypersons try the setup. It doesn’t work, we invent fixes- this is how tap rinsing emerged for caribsea wet pack sand that clearly says on the label, no rinsing required. Add our flocculant.



how we arrived at bathtub tap water to rinse new sand:

Caribsea has no wiggling animals in it, the equivalent of someone putting sand / water / the occasional fishhook and bottle bac in a bag and selling it to you semi cleaned.

ro costs too much and we need a zillion gallons ready. Same for saltwater
If someone sold actually pre rinsed sand this wouldn’t be a factor

tap water is a universal sterilizer only as web rumor, it’s not like that for plumbers, microbiologists, lab workers, nurses, researchers etc


tap water brings IN bacteria where it goes, it does not sterilize or we wouldn’t need surfactants to get jobs done. Surgeons would destratify their skin cells free and void of bacteria during scrub in with tap only, if tap was a sterilizing agent.

adding all that up, we now tap pre rinse the same sand this thread has focused on cleaning in the tank, the stuff is getting cleaned front back and sideways apparently.

once we accept tap water pre rinsing reality, we can proceed into tap water rinsing of *current* living reef tank sand in order to fix nearly any problem with the sandbed. only a loon would do that right


some people don’t clean with a siphon, they clean by rinsing the entire sandbed in tapwater and setting the reef back on top, even if the reef is ten years old at the time. The most polar opposite action from the rule set also works well.


sandbeds and reefing started as zero pre cleaning allowed, we are closing in on getting fifty percent to now pre-clean.

sandbeds started as total hands off, now the majority are very hands on in some way.

 

[Sherrya62]

No vacuum,

I have the same lil dude along with hermits and three species of snail. Always sifted

 

[Cali-Saltwater-1st-Timer]

If you seen the amount of crud, bacterial silt, and other miscellaneous garbage that comes out the sand when you siphon it I don't know how anyone wouldn't. Tank maintenance doesn't feel complete to me unless this is performed. It's a must for me!

 

[Dj City]

I like the idea of that sand vac. I'm going to build one in the future.

I have not done a manual water change on my current tank since setting it up. When I do a water change, it's done with apex dos so I'm not getting any crud out that way.

What I've been doing is turning the return pump off,, turning the sand completely over making the biggest mess I can and hooking up my fx6 canister filter.

Lately, I've been turning over the sand and adding DIY Coral Snow.
I've been doing that everyday for the past week or so.
Tank and sand have been looking good.

 

[Dj City]

My reef is 180 gallons. it's 5 ft long, 2 ft wide and 30 inches deep so reaching the sanded is not the easiest thing to do. I can't simply pull the sand out to rip clean and put it back.

Completely turning the sand over and getting all the muck into the water column to be removed with an external temporary canister filter has been working pretty well for me along with the daily doses of coral snow.

But i DO plan on making that sand vac!
I like that idea!

 

[Dj City]

Putting plan to action.

I just purchased everything I need for my sand vac.

10" Reverse Osmosis Canister 1/2" Ports - Bulk Reef Supply	200900		Ordered1
1/2” Schedule 80 90° Elbow Barb x Male Thread	202660		Ordered1
Syncra Silent 0.5 Pump (185 GPH) - Sicce	207731		Ordered1
30" Gravel Tube - Python

I don't know why it's showing $22.98 when I only paid $18.38

I am going to use the Python gravel tube. It's 30" long and accepts 1/2 inch tubing. It just makes this build easier.

I should have everything by next week.

Can't wait to build this and use it. I have not cleaned my sanded since this tank got set up.
I would turn the sandbed over and use coral snow or turn the sandbed
over and use my Fluvial FX6 canister filter but this will allow me to DIRECTLY CLEAN the sandbed.

Should make for a much cleaner tank.

I will update when all parts arrive and I put it to use.

 

[Calm Blue Ocean]

Putting plan to action.

I just purchased everything I need for my sand vac.

10" Reverse Osmosis Canister 1/2" Ports - Bulk Reef Supply	200900		Ordered1
1/2” Schedule 80 90° Elbow Barb x Male Thread	202660		Ordered1
Syncra Silent 0.5 Pump (185 GPH) - Sicce	207731		Ordered1
30" Gravel Tube - Python

I don't know why it's showing $22.98 when I only paid $18.38

I am going to use the Python gravel tube. It's 30" long and accepts 1/2 inch tubing. It just makes this build easier.

I should have everything by next week.

Can't wait to build this and use it. I have not cleaned my sanded since this tank got set up.
I would turn the sandbed over and use coral snow or turn the sandbed
over and use my Fluvial FX6 canister filter but this will allow me to DIRECTLY CLEAN the sandbed.

Should make for a much cleaner tank.

I will update when all parts arrive and I put it to use.

Looking forward to hearing how this works out for you since I'm strongly considering building one as well! Definitely keep us posted.