Cleaning sand

[MadReefer]

How do people clean the sand in their DT? I use to vacuum it but much sand would get sucked out with the dirt and I didn't have much sand to start with. I just put a small 1/2 inch layer for looks. Once in a blue moon I would swirl the sand to get some dirt out. After I redecorated my LR I caused a lot of stuff to flow out of the sand, not intentional. This caused a small cyano outbreak which is now under control. I am thinking if I syphon the sand and to much gets wasted I can replace it in small quantities. Will this be an issue? Or should I just stir what I have a little bit each day, week, etc?
All comments welcome.

Thanks,
Mark

 

[TanksNStuff]

Add a sea cucumber and/or fighting conchs to your cleanup crew. They will help alot with debris in the sand bed.

If your bed is only 1/2" thick, I'd say you should stir it up once a week or so and let stuff work it's way out. You might want to just do 1/4 of it at a time so it's not a ton of stuff in the water at once. Maybe every week do a different corner?

 

[NikkiT]

I like to syphon out visible accumulated gunk, and then stirr up the sand bed to remove additional gunk. Another option in addition to a sea cucumber or a fighting conch is nacarrius snails; they don't eat detritus, but they do keep the sandbed stirred up.

 

[shipwrecked]

Actually at a 1/2" layer of sand I wouldnt even bother with it,like Nikki said gets some nac snails and let them stir it up as they go.If cynao is a problem on the sand then def use a python or the like to rumble and syphon out the "affected" areas.

 

[MadReefer]

Thanks everyone. I plan to stir a small patch up every few days and during water changes.
However I have a bigger problem. I bought a new API Nitrate test kit tonight and it tested 160ppm.
Is that even possible? How is anything alive if that's true.
What can I do to reduce the Nitrates other than large water changes. I don't have enough water to do that anyway and small water changes probably wouldn't help.
I was thinking of sugar or vodka dosing. Any suggestions welcome.

Thanks,
Mark

 

[redfishbluefish]

Water changes are the way to go.


Sugar or vodka dosing is not going to do anything. This “carbon” dosing is to stimulate the bacteria that converts ammonia to nitrite to nitrate. Once you get to nitrate, that’s it! Nitrate is the end of the line. The only way to get rid of it is to have plant material absorb it as a fertilizer, use a nitrate exchange resin or get it out by doing water changes. Your best bet is to do the water changes.

 

[shipwrecked]

Mark,The high reading of nitrates may be do to your adding of chemiclean and Im sure yr readings would be high for a few.If you already did a water change I would add some carbon or better yet purigen,do your weekly water changes(maybe several gallons more than you normally would) along with maintaining yr filter socks and sponges if any.Keep yr skimmer clean and running.Nutrient export is def key here.1 step forward and sometimes 2 back.gd luck

 

[MadReefer]

Thanks for the info. Guess I will buy 15g of water so I can do WC this weekend. Should I still run the GFO or just carbon?

Paul, Here is the blurb I read about vodka dosing which is why I was considering it.
"

How does it reduce NO3 and PO4?

By adding organic carbon, we increase bacterial growth and reproduction. The reason why we do this is because bacteria use nutrients such as nitrate and phosphate to build new cells which result in rapid NO2 and PO4 reduction. Like us, they need their carbs. Bacteria are then exported via the protein skimmer and so are the nutrient that it consumed. Most vodka users note a notable increase in skimmate production, removing more waste than without vodka addition."