Siphoning with a sand sifter

[Shilpan]

Hey everyone!
So I haven't been siphoning my sand bed for the past month or two in order to ensure my sand sifting goby survived. However now that he eats prepared food readily I'm not worried about him starving anymore, he's fattened up a lot since the fish shop.

My question is, is it worthwhile siphoning the sand bed? My concern is that the goby is sifting the top inch of my sand, but there maybe detritus trapped in the bottom inch that he doesn't reach and disturb.

What do you guys think? I haven't had nutrient or algae issues yet but I want to be check what's the best thing to do.

 

[one-fish]

Following your posts do think you have all the micro fauna in place in your sand bed... I still vacuum to rid GHA from sand bed i have a DSB rake it up into piles suck it up but not deep.

 

[lmforbis]

I've always been told it is best not to vacuum sand. I have snails that live in the sand to turn it around.

 

[one-fish]

Very true I am still fighting GHA in the sand bed I use a plastic fork on a wooden dowel to gently rake it up in piles then siphon off. Works for awhile but it grows right back and yes the snails do turn the sand bed up nicely. Still a newly cycled tank.

 

[Mike2112]

Can any one help I.d. This black thing ??? Thanks