bekritsky
New Member
my fish tank has live sand as the substrate and I was wondering how I can clean some of this mucus found there from the bottom of the tank. 
damon585@yahoo.com
damon585@yahoo.com
cleaning live sand
- Thread starter bekritsky
- Start date
b_ball12_99
Member
I prefer hermits, snails, and starfish.
C
coralbeauty
Guest
Is your LS bed new??? You should not need to clean it. As people stated above, do you have a clean-up crew? If not, this website offers some great ones. I have purchased two from them and I never need to "clean" the sand. The crabs, shrimp and starfish do all of the work.
Good luck,
Connie
Good luck,
Connie
bobber
Member
Every once in a while, use a powerhead and direct the flow directly over the LR. This will remove the particles and release them into the water. Some of the stuff that is released will be food for your corals, the rest will be eaten by the critters IN and ON the sand bed. I do this at least once every two weeks before my water change. HTH--Bob
p.s. DO NOT siphon the sand. You will be removing critters in the sand! Very bad...
[ June 05, 2001: Message edited by: Bobber ]
p.s. DO NOT siphon the sand. You will be removing critters in the sand! Very bad...
[ June 05, 2001: Message edited by: Bobber ]
bobj
Member
I argree with Bobber. The current school of thought concerning ls beds is that they require no external sifting. This means no clean-up crews or hand sifting.
The theory is this. The bacteria in the ls provide the filtration. The infauna(worms etc) eat the bacteria to stimulate reproduction and eat the detritus in the sand.
Sand sifters(clean-up crews) feed on the infauna that are required to eat the bacteria. Sand sifters have a negative effect on the ls filtration system.
More and more studies have indicated that the best course of action with ls beds is to leave them alone.
Ls beds are a intergral part of a lr self-contained reef system. To use them as part of a fo sytem becomes problematic.
The theory is this. The bacteria in the ls provide the filtration. The infauna(worms etc) eat the bacteria to stimulate reproduction and eat the detritus in the sand.
Sand sifters(clean-up crews) feed on the infauna that are required to eat the bacteria. Sand sifters have a negative effect on the ls filtration system.
More and more studies have indicated that the best course of action with ls beds is to leave them alone.
Ls beds are a intergral part of a lr self-contained reef system. To use them as part of a fo sytem becomes problematic.
@knight
Member
keep in mind thats only one school of thought, which i really cant argue with Shimek, cuz hes got a couple more degrees than i do.
but if you were to read more if shimeks work (i.e. his article on nassarius snails) he contradicts himself.
But things like astrea snails and a few hermits and a brittle star should not hurt a DSB. I have seen it done sucessfully several times. I would bet that most sharks on this message board that has a dsb has some form of a cleanup crew.
sharks, bite me if im wrong
but if you were to read more if shimeks work (i.e. his article on nassarius snails) he contradicts himself.
But things like astrea snails and a few hermits and a brittle star should not hurt a DSB. I have seen it done sucessfully several times. I would bet that most sharks on this message board that has a dsb has some form of a cleanup crew.
sharks, bite me if im wrong
up north hermit
Member
Stirring the sand by manual means is not recommended. That is why you get your clean up crew to do it for you. They do it naturally.
While sand-STIRRING critters are encouraged, like nassarius snails, mopping cukes, and the like---sand SIFTING critters that EAT the infauna are not.
HTH
Hermit
While sand-STIRRING critters are encouraged, like nassarius snails, mopping cukes, and the like---sand SIFTING critters that EAT the infauna are not.
HTH
Hermit