Clean Sand Bed????

[crzyfshygy]

My sand bed is always nasty looking. I have always used something to clean it and was wondering what everyone else is using to keep it clean.

 

[crzyfshygy]

 

[murph145]

well mines never the cleanest but i use chemi-clean once every 2 months about to rid the cyano that starts to bloom on the sand.... other then that just water changes and a large skimmer
i overfeed my fish ... i know i shouldnt but i cant help it they always look at me with there "im hungry" eyes

 

[pyroreef]

wat size tank do u have id recomend geting a sand sifting sttarfich some sandsifting cucuumbers some mexican turbo snails some white nassarius snails alot of blue leged hermits and a lawnmower blenny

 

[a2hotz]

In my first ever saltwater tank, I had the nastiest brown algae prblem ever. It was all over my sand. I bought a sallylightfoot crab and it miraculously disapeered and never showed up again.
My tank now has TERRIBLE sand. Its muddy and looks bad and clouds my water with any sort of disturbance. Im probably going to just cover it with some new white sand.

 

[murph145]

not enough flow so the detrius or fish poop is settling to the bottom and not getting filtered out

 

[reefreak29]

hey murph fyi, the chemi clean kills bacteria good and bad , including nitrifying bacteria

 

[murph145]

FYI it does not....
its reef safe and states does not kill nytrifying bacteria.... or any type of macro algae....
i have a reef tank full of corals and lots of sps if it werent safe i wouldnt use it....
it works great at riding cyano within 48 hours

 

[dejaco]

Try arranging power heads and or returns to increase flow at lower portion of tank. Even if some sand is moved around it will be okay and really clean up your sand. Also I find keeping nassarius and super tongan snails will turn over the sand and help. I also keep serpent stars which help the cleaning process. Another suggestion is to order a "detrivore kit". My sand bed has thousands of the microstars, various smaill worms, and who knows what else now. Yes some things do come in on live rock pieces and transfer to your sand bed, but with stuff feeding on them their populations don't get large enough fast enough to help. Just some thoughts and suggestions from what I have tried.