The Lifespan of Sand

[mombostic]

My tank is getting quite elderly by most standards, and I was wondering about my sand.
I changed from cc to sand several years ago, and just recently I've been wondering if the sand ever gets too "old." I still have the same anemone and clownfish pair, the sixline wrasse, and the royal gramma. In other words, things are calm and in good shape. I very seldom mess with my tank--in fact, I have switched to doing water changes only twice a month over the years. For my tank, less seems to be more, so I'm not looking to do anything right away.
Still, I was curious about the sand. Nature has ways of cleaning and recycling sand which can't be replicated in the tank, so does the bacteria load get to be too heavy? Even with little crabs and snails (who stay on the rocks and glass, not the sand) does detrius build up to unmanageable levels over time?
I haven't commented on here in a long time, but I'm always reading. Thanks for your thoughts!

 

[btldreef]

I like to add a cup of seeded sand from another tank every 6 months. A group of local reefers and I trade amongst each other, or I trade between my tanks.
If you're not seeing any levels that are off, I wouldn't worry to much. The main reason I reseed is because I have a sand sifting goby.

 

[snakeblitz33]

Sure it can... over time waste does build up in the sandbed. If you have ever gravelvac'd your crushed coral, it's kind of the same thing. Sand does build up waste, albeit much slower than crushed coral. It still does have to be maintained. If you stir it up too much at one time you can be looking at some serious algae problems with good lighting. If you want to maintain it manually, you could use a very low flow siphon gravel vac and go through a little bit of your sand at a time. You can also buy nassarius snails and cleaner clams that will slowly turn your sand bed and maintain it themselves.
Occasionally you do have to change things up here and there and introduce new bacterias and organisms into the tank so that your system can maintain optimum biodiversity to avoid old tank syndrome...

 

[flower]

Quote:
Originally Posted by SnakeBlitz33 http:///t/389777/the-lifespan-of-sand#post_3446993
Sure it can... over time waste does build up in the sandbed. If you have ever gravelvac'd your crushed coral, it's kind of the same thing. Sand does build up waste, albeit much slower than crushed coral. It still does have to be maintained. If you stir it up too much at one time you can be looking at some serious algae problems with good lighting. If you want to maintain it manually, you could use a very low flow siphon gravel vac and go through a little bit of your sand at a time. You can also buy nassarius snails and cleaner clams that will slowly turn your sand bed and maintain it themselves.
Occasionally you do have to change things up here and there and introduce new bacterias and organisms into the tank so that your system can maintain optimum biodiversity to avoid old tank syndrome...
Good subject...my sand is wow....10 years old, two years ago I did add some live reef sand to try and reseed it. I have always kept the snails and such to move the sand....Lately my sand looks "dirty" any suggestions? I was thinking my CUC was pretty old and should be replenished. I don't see quite as many snails or hermits crawling around...I have to look for them.

 

[snakeblitz33]

Yeah, I suggest re-upping your clean up crew. I got tired of having to maintain sand and CC so I just went barebottom. I don't think I'm ever going back.

 

[flower]

Quote:
Originally Posted by SnakeBlitz33 http:///t/389777/the-lifespan-of-sand#post_3447006
Yeah, I suggest re-upping your clean up crew. I got tired of having to maintain sand and CC so I just went barebottom. I don't think I'm ever going back.
No-way could I be happy with no sand...it just doen't look right to me. Don't you get detritus all over the bottom of the tank anyway? Do you paint the bottom or leave it clear?

 

[snakeblitz33]

I painted the bottom of my tank (underneath) flat white. I really like it. It makes the tank so much brighter and cleaner looking.
Detritus that used to build up on the sandbed in my old tank is no longer settling and being taken into the sandbed to break down - it's simply siphoned up during a water change and gotten out of the tank. Plus, having a LOT of flow across the bottom of the tank helps detritus from being built up...

 

[snakeblitz33]

Sorry, the point of the thread was maintaining a sandbed, not discussing barebottom tanks... sorry to the OP.

 

[mombostic]

No problem--I've thought about a bare bottomed tank myself, and I've read about them on here and looked at some pics, but I have a LOT of live rock, and I went through so much trouble when I ditched the cc that I couldn't stand the thought of changing it again.
The only thing I see happening is that algae maybe builds up just a little faster than it used to. I always try to blow the powerhead on the rocks when before I start siphoning off the water. I use a bigger diameter tube so it has quite a bit of suction, and I try to siphon off the rocks really well so stuff doesn't build up.
Since you mention it, I probably do need to add some new crabs and snails, because it's been a LONG time since I've added anything new.
I like the idea of clams or snails, but I actually have very little exposed surface area of sand. Like I said, I have a lot of rock. Wouldn't that be bad for an animal that lives in the sand? I once talked myself out of a sand-sifting goby for that very reason.
I don't have a source for seeding my sand with some new, established sand. Even the lfs that was reasonably close closed down.
Thanks for the great responses!

 

[mombostic]

I had another thought--
Could I siphon out some sand and then put new sand in? What's the deal with so-called "live sand?" I know with live rock there is a lot of die-off, and I wouldn't want to cause something catastrophic just so my tank looks prettier!
Just sort of thinking out loud here, because I can't imagine trying to get the fish, rocks, anemone......out of the tank. Nightmare.

 

[snakeblitz33]

Sure, you can siphon out some sand and replace it with dry aragonite sand if need be. I don't see a need to add live sand from a bag to your tank... If it were live sand from a local reefer it would be different though...
If you use a very low flow gravel vac you can siphon out the crap that is in your sandbed and leave the sand behind... You wouldn't have to replace your sandbed.

 

[mombostic]

I haven't had a gravel vac in a long time. I'll have to look at them, I guess. I use a pretty big tube (more of a hose, really) and it has a lot of suction power. It wouldn't work. I would take sand and all. I know because sometimes when I'm cleaning the tank I suck some up by accident. I remember doing the cc, but it is much heavier.
I think working with what I have may be the simplest thing. If it ain't broke, don't fix it, right?
What about a sand-sifting type of goby? I have room in my tank for one for sure, but what about the surface area of the sand? Mine is absolutely a rocky ecosystem!

 

[mr. limpid]

When my sand gets surface algae growing on it, the tangs and crabs eat a lot of it but the rest I siphon off during water change (just about a 1/8" so that it all looks white again). I rinse it in RO water and let stand in a 5 gal bucket with lid for a month or two, then I rinse it very good again add it back to the tank. As for creature who live in the sand and eat debris the best are nassarius snails second cleaner claims.

 

[mombostic]

The reef packages for sale here look really good to me--lots of variety! I don't know what I was thinking--I haven't added any new inverts to the tank for a long time, and once I started looking today there aren't a whole lot I can see. I'm going to get a reef package from here ASAP, which includes both cleaner clams and nassarius snails. That's probably why a little bit of algae is starting to creep back in, too!

 

[mr. limpid]

good idea, that is the first thing we all add to our tanks and the last thing we think about to add more of. I just started doing the same to my reef tank adding snails, snice all I see are none moving shells.