When is the last time you vacuumed your sand bed? Does it matter?

When is the last time you vacuumed your sand bed?

  • A week ago

    Votes: 230 29.0%
  • A few weeks ago

    Votes: 154 19.4%
  • A few months ago

    Votes: 69 8.7%
  • It's been 6 months or more

    Votes: 51 6.4%
  • It's been over a year

    Votes: 28 3.5%
  • It's been several years

    Votes: 24 3.0%
  • I've never vacuumed the sand

    Votes: 190 24.0%
  • Other (please explain)

    Votes: 47 5.9%

  • Total voters
    793

elorablue

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I do a small section every wc (weekly). Just the surface though, I don't dig in too deep as mine is a new tank and I want 'stuff' to grow in there.
 

DH78

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I vacuum half the tank each week in my 120. Because this would remove more water than I want for a water change, I send it through a 10 micron filter sock in my sump before doing a water change.
 

Greybeard

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I can honestly say NEVER!


But... since I only added sand to my bare bottom tank a couple of months ago... maybe that's not so impressive.

Sure, I'll be vacuuming it, probably quarterly, as it get some age to it. Anyone who doesn't must have never seen the stinky black muck that comes out of a dirty sand bed when you stick a siphon tube into it <shudder>
 

FBAA

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I don't vacuum. The 1" sand bed is covered in snail shells for my pods to grow in. I will go in by hand and stirr it up to get everything to go through the overflows. This keeps the detritus from building up. At night I'll turn on the lights and it's a completely different world with the worms established in the sand. Tentacles everywhere mopping up leftover food and detritus. It's pretty cool to watch. I'll have to try and get a good photo of all the night critters feeding but it's hard.
 

Lasse

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IMO - the worst t hing to do with a sandbed is to vacuum it. Let it be - let animals doing the stirring.

And my tank is 5 years old - never, ever been vacuumed - not the sand bed, not behind the rocks, not the refugium and surly not the sump. If I stirr it - it will be foggy in the aquarium - but its mostly inorganic stuff that comes up.

Sincerely Lasse
 

Spinal Compass

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Sand and acrylic are an invitation to scratches and so I utilize lots of live rock and ceramic media. However, I do vacuum the detritus in my acrylic tanks. In my glass tanks, I utilize a clean up crew of sand sifting gobies, snails and cleaner shrimp.
 

rustyreefer

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I stopped over six months ago. Never was able to get the areas that mattered anyways. Diamond goby and CUC seems to be doing their jobs though.
 

AJsReef

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Other - I haven't vacuumed sand in years, bare bottom and high flow is the way to go!

FTS 0421.jpg
 

vlangel

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1. When is the last time you vacuumed your sand bed?

2. Do you think vacuuming your sand bed will help mitigate issues in the long term progress of your reef?


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Since I like the looks of a sand bed, I practice what I was taught while working in a LFS back in the 1990s. If the sand bed is shallow ( an inch or less) then it should be vacumned regularly. However if the sand bed is deep, (more than an inch and preferably more than 4 inches) then it is undisturbed except lightly dancing my fingers across the surface once a week or so. I myself prefer DSBs for their ease of maintenance and have mostly utilized them in my tanks. I might add that I have never experienced toxic tank syndrome or a crash in any of my tanks.
 

brandon429

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if someone goes from sandbed to bare bottom what happens to the coral
 

Gemdora

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I WANT to clean my sandbed more frequently, but I can't. In a 1 year old nano, every time I touch the sand, I get a dino outbreak. I don't understand what's going on other than "there's some biologically diverse life in undisturbed sand that's keeping the dinos in check" It's taken me a long time to figure this out, but "not touching it" is working out much better than anything else. Maybe that will change in another year or so. /shrug
I have been reefing for years and never cleaned my sanded. I make the best of nature and she takes care of herself very well.
 

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NowGlazeIT

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question: if you rinse out your whole sandbed with tap, and set it back clear as a snowglobe occasionally is that good or bad
It’s good if your looking for a fresh start. I rinse all my new sand this way
 

A worm with high fashion and practical utility: Have you ever kept feather dusters in your reef aquarium?

  • I currently have feather dusters in my tank.

    Votes: 64 36.8%
  • Not currently, but I have had feather dusters in my tank in the past.

    Votes: 59 33.9%
  • I have not had feather dusters, but I hope to in the future.

    Votes: 25 14.4%
  • I have no plans to have feather dusters in my tank.

    Votes: 26 14.9%
  • Other.

    Votes: 0 0.0%
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