is it bad to stir the sand?

[mazdaspeed]

Ya know I was wondering... Because sometimes I see algae and stuff growing like in my sand bed which is only about an inch deep and every now and again I kinda sift the sand either with my had or algae scraper to break it up and mix the sand a bit. Are there any negatives to doing this? I know it makes the tank cloudy for a while but it's interesting that when I do it everything in the tank seems to really wake up and become very active...

 

[norway]

very good question mazda...
i think with a deep sand bed it isnt good to do because it can release trapped toxins. but with a shallow it isnt really a problem but lets not stop with my 2 cents.
i do the exact same thing, hopefully someone will be able to answer.

 

[mazdaspeed]

Well let me tell ya when I did it my peppermint shrimp came out and was extremely active and all my snails poked up and my conch started moving around eating and picking through the sand. I like doing it because it really makes the sand look good and clean again cause it's gets kinda gross after a while.
Anyone else with some opinions on this?

 

[laddy]

I believe the opinions on maintaining a sand bed differ by who you ask. I am under the camp that you should leave the sand bed alone, that more harm can come from disturbing decaying proteins than good can come from cleaning up what doesn't look pleasant to the eye.........I use my cleanup crew to disturb the bed.

 

[norway]

come on....somebody has to have some scientific answer to this question?

 

[aquaman]

NORWAY I have not answered because your first post was correct. I didn't think any further information was needed. I am sure there could be a biological lesson here with all sorts of fancy $2 and $3 words, but you summed it up nicely.

 

[aquaman]

BTW that is one scary looking pic!!!!!:scared:

 

[norway]

haha, thanks aqua... i dont like being a jackass know it all, and then end up being wrong. its kind of like my "claimer"/"disclaimer"

 

[norway]

by the way... how do you ski fish??? isnt that kind of mean?? har-har

 

[dskidmore]

Originally posted by NORWAY
come on....somebody has to have some scientific answer to this question?
I think the reason why everyone has a diffrent opinion is that everyone has a diffrent experience.
Factors:
Nutrient Import (feeding, dieoffs)
Nutrient Export (denitrification, refugiums, water changes)
Nutrient Transport (burrowing cleaners, strong sand-level currents)
Nutrient Capacity (volume of sand holding nutrients while they are in the process of denitrification.)
The goal is to not let so much crud build up on the sand that it looks bad, and not have so much build up in the sand that it causes a "crash" later. If you have good Nutrient Transport and Export, then you really shouldn't have to disturb the cycle. If you have too much Nutrient Import, or not enough Transport, junk will exceed your capacity and some mishap may disturb it and dump all those nutrients into the water. The deeper the sand bed, the longer it takes to see problems with this balance. If the factors are out of balance, it may be wise to stir the sand occasionally, although if you havn't been doing this regularly since the tank was set up, use a ton of caution and ease into it so you don't release all your stored nutrients into the water at once.
Is that scientific enough for you?

 

[aquaman]

Originally posted by DSkidmore
I think the reason why everyone has a diffrent opinion is that everyone has a diffrent experience...
...Is that scientific enough for you?
SHOW OFF!!!

 

[norway]

KICKASS

 

[aquaman]

Originally posted by NORWAY
by the way... how do you ski fish??? isnt that kind of mean?? har-har
It all depends on the type of fish you use, I personally le barracudas because they are long and thin. Anyway, once the fish start to freeze they stop all the flopping and you spend more time on the slopes instead of with a mallet. The biggest problem is people are staring and talking about you, Things like, why can’t he just use fiberglass skis like everyone else, and that such...

 

[nvmycj]

I'm with you guys.....I've been stiring up the sand ever since my tank has been up. I've got sand sifting snails, and I still have crud build up on the sandbed. I've got a 10gallon tank with 20#'s of LR and LS. Ever since it's been established, I've had zero levels on ammonia, nitrates, and nitrites. I've got some hammer corals, frog spawn, mushrooms, and feather dusters. So far so good. Two fishies, also..... a perc clown and a royal gramma.

 

[laddy]

In Wilkerson's book "Clownfish" she makes mention of an infection clowns get on their eyes when the sand is stirred up.