to clean sand or not to clean

[norbert]

Hello all:
Is it really necessary to clean the sand
in the tank? I have heard that the nh4 and
nitrate will build up and kill the fish.
thanks

 

[trigger reid]

no you dont have to clean you sand i never do and i have had tanks running for two years with no problems

 

[brianrish]

Assuming you have a DSB (deep sand bed) you aren't supposed to clean your sand. As cleaning your sand disturbs and kills all of the critters you want in there in the first place. Once you have your sand in place, you should not mess with it.
Instead get a clean up crew to clean it for you. Some crabs, snails, conchs, etc will do a very nice job at keeping it clean for you.

 

[aarone]

agreed! but how would you go about cleaning the sand?
aaron

 

[norbert]

I was told to "vacuum the sand" with the siphon hose.
the siphon hose has a screen which keeps the sand from
leaving the main tank.
My sand has green and red/purple stuff growing on it.
My friend said that is good stuff. He called it "coralene"
Norbert

 

[bang guy]

Coralline doesn't normally grow on the sand, it's a rock (and glass ) inhabitant. You might have Cyanobacter on your sand bed. This is normally a new tank problem but it can reoccur if your tank has excess nutrients and/or not enough water flow across the sand.
Look for a post by Kipass about sand beds.

 

[scotts]

Do not clean your sand! You are onlys sucking out the good critters that are in your sand. If you need to add a clean up crew of snails and hermit crabs.
Scott

 

[janelle]

if you tried to siphon the sand, half of it would be siphoned right out! Just stick with some good old fashioned nassarius snails and other sand cleaning critters and youll be fine.....

 

[clownfish1452]

I was told the same thing by my LFS. I did it a couple of times before I found this web site and found out that it was one of the reasons why all of my fish died.
Sarah

 

[norbert]

Thanks to everyone for the replies.
Why do you have to get rid of your crabs
to get more conchs?
will the crabs eat the conchs?
will the puffer eat the conch?
norbert