What do you do to keep your sand clean?

[56longroof]

I'd throw about 100 blue legged hermits in there. They do a great job of keeping the sand clean in my tank.

 

[UMALUM]

If there's algae growing there's most likely trapped organics feeding it. You could always turkey baste a couple times a week but I would recommend trying to get back ahead of it with a siphon. Pristine sand beds are the way they are because they're being maintained.

 

[Rhetoric]

I believe in vacuuming the sand.

I have 2 different vacuums

#1 lightly lifts the top layer of sand (1/2 inch or so) causing a tumbling motion. Cleans all the brown "yuk" out while leaving the sand.

#2 Sucks the top layer of sand out completely. I use it to remove larger growth/algae. I've even had aptasia pop up in the sand.. slurps them right out!

*disclaimer* my sand isn't perfect but I actively manage it.

Good luck

 

[mattroth54]

My tiger tail sea cucumber keeps the sand pristine.

 

[Oldsman]

I've been looking for a couple tiger conch's for our 40g, its all TBS sand. Theres little tufts of algea I'm working on cleaning up...found out our RO-DI filters were only RO..oops. I'm using distilled water till I can purchase a proper unit.

 

[MissMolly]

My sandbed only became spotless after adding a sandsifting goby. Mine was the sexguttata. Because they constantly move things around the algae don't have time to grab on.

 

[carri10]

This is my other reason for not wanting the goby. I’ve not seen them really make a difference with algae. Sure, they’ll prevent things from settling, but ones there’s already algae, I don’t see them make a huge difference.

Idk, maybe I’ll add a bunch more conchs. The ones I have now scoot around all day pushing through it but they don’t really seem to much the algae.

As for trying not to vac the sand, as I mentioned that’s when I’ve had the most issues in the past. I’ve tried doing it all at once, section by section, etc. the times I’ve vacuumed the sand I’ve had spikes in no3 and po4. Not sure if this was due to them being trapped in the sand or because I destroyed whatever bacteria that was consuming them.

Hi. If the spikes were immediate, then it won’t be due to any bacterial action. Far more likely it was due to the substances being trapped in the sand. If that is the case, then surely that’s an argument for vacuuming. Better to have these substances out than in

 

[Fishy888]

I have been dealing with dinos lately but I got three conchs. Two fighting conchs and a tiger conch. They’re making good progress. The sand was full of dinos but between blowing the dinos off the sand bed and the conchs the sand is much whiter and the dinos are almost gone!

I might invest in a sand sifting goby eventually but I’m thinking more about getting a sea cucumber and some nassarius snails. I don’t have a super deep sand bed but I’m going to add more sand gradually.

 

[Moe K]

Different organism can cause the sand to look "dirty". The top 3 being diatoms, cyano bacteria, and dinos. Then there is also prymnesium parvum (golden algae) that looks like dinos but is not. The best thing is to get a microscope and identify what you have. Diatoms, dinos, and prymnesium parvum can look exactly alike and behave similar also. So a microscope is a must.

I think prymnesium parvum is much more common than people think but the least talked about. It doesnt usually get as severe visually and not as toxic as some dinos but can be difficult to get rid of. Lots of UV plumbed in can knock them down and sometimes "cure" the tank. No real answers on what fuels them.

Diatoms go away on their own when they deplete silicate in the tank. The easiest to fix and an indication you might need to change your DI resin.

Cyano can be eliminated with a once or twice a week dose of reef snow (calcium carbonate) mixed with bacteria. Turkey baste the sand before dosing. The SunnyX method which works.

Dinos are the worst. Usually caused by a disruption or lack of bacteria in the substrate. Amphidinium and prorocentrum dinos are tough to get rid of. Some get lucky and can dose silicates to induce a diatom bloom to smother it out in about a month. Some reefers this process can take several months to a year all while making the tank look worse. The good news is I can shamelessly plug my product that can take care of these types much faster called the UV Sweeper. It still takes work but will fix the problem at an accelerated rate without altering water chemistry.

So basically the most important thing is to identify the problem properly then figure out a plan.

 

[Gumbies R Us]

I have been dealing with dinos lately but I got three conchs. Two fighting conchs and a tiger conch. They’re making good progress. The sand was full of dinos but between blowing the dinos off the sand bed and the conchs the sand is much whiter and the dinos are almost gone!

I might invest in a sand sifting goby eventually but I’m thinking more about getting a sea cucumber and some nassarius snails. I don’t have a super deep sand bed but I’m going to add more sand gradually.

Just make sure you have guards on your wavemakers, as I have seen horror stories of sea cucumbers getting killed by wavemakers.

 

[mjw011689]

Honestly I’d rather this be Dino’s. Well maybe not, because that would smother my corals as well, but I’ve been there done that with Dino’s. Had it for 6 months trying everything, until one day I finally got a UV and started dosing peroxide and 3 days later it was completely gone. I’ve now beat dinos in multiple tanks the same way, takes a couple days each time. This on the other hand is getting annoying.

 

[kingranch2003]

Yep, like I mentioned on the first post, 3 tiger conchs, between 60-100 ceriths, probably 30-50 nassarius.

Diamond or Bella goby is my next move although I really don’t want to. I’d rather not deal with the mess if I don’t have to.

Conchs and nassarius do an excellent job keeping the sandbed clean and turned over. I agree with reefer Matt about blasting detritus our of rocks and corners. Those things will help immensely.

 

[salty joe]

I have three clowns and they will bite a rock at the base and swim HARD!, like they are trying to push the rock. It disrupts the sand big time.