Your idea of a "well maintained" sandbed.

[carriej]

Simply put - what is your idea of a well maintained sandbed. Lots of articles hint about sand bed care but there is often not a lot of elaboration on what that entails.

There also seems to be a split between "Don't touch it" and "vacuum it/replace it".

[d2mini]

I'm in the don't touch it, let the clean up crew take care of it camp.
That's what I'm paying them for! ;)

[ridetheducati]

The standard consulting answer, it depends.

DSB should not be vacuumed or disturbed. Disturbing the DSB will upset the biology, which you work hard to maintain. Shallow beds can be vacuumed or disturbed regulary. This bed does not have the delicate anaerobic zone.

[d2mini]

I've disturbed a shallow sand bed (less than 2"). The consequences ain't pretty. But of course it wasn't done regularly.

[casey187]

a good clean up crew and maybe a sifting goby and you should be good.

[FullBoreReefer]

I run about a 2-3in sand bed. Tanks been going for almost 4yrs now. Havent touched it even once. I have a small cleanup crew, not even a goby like my last 180gal tank. Sand bed looks great.

The normal issues with a dirty sand bed/rocks can usually be traced else where, lights, high nutrients, etc.

Good luck!

[dkeller_nc]

I think you're going to see a sharp disagreement over this question. In my case, I don't touch it (ever). But I also have a lot of critters stirring it around.

There is also a school of thought that sand beds of any type are detritus traps, and should be regularly vacuumed. A variation of this is that aragonite sand beds will bind phosphates from the tank water and eventually "fill up" and must then be replaced. I have issues with that analysis on chemistry grounds, but there's little doubt that people with successful reef tanks can and do replace their sand beds without causing major issues.

Finally, there are plenty of folks that run "squeaky clean" tanks where the sand bed isn't a sand bed - it's starboard with a dusting of glued-on sand. The philosophy here is that the ideal way to keep a coral reef tank is heavy detritus removal and/or filtering (adherents to this idea often use filter socks continuously).

If you review the tanks-of-the-month on RC, you'll see examples of both schools of thought. The current TOTM has an undisturbed deep sand bed and is stocked with a large amount of SPS corals, for example. There have also been TOTM sps-dominated tanks that follow the "detritus prevention/mitigation" method as well.

Personally, I think the preference for either method is more of a reflection of the personality of the reef keeper than one method being markedly superior over another.

[ridetheducati]

Your right. This thread has the capability of becoming a trolling thread.

Before this thread gets closed, I would like to add the following. A DSB, shallow bed, and bare bottom tank collects detritus. How you manage those nutrients is your choice.

Rhetorically speaking, which shoe do you put on first?

[carriej]

Closed? Why would it be closed?

It's just a discussion. I have a sandbed and it's now over a year old; and I have done very little to it. Someone local told me I should be replacing it so I am looking for other trains of thought is all... As exchanging sand really isn't my thing, and if that's what is required I will just remove the sand over time.

And I must ask, what kind of "critters" (for those who have them) do you use in your sandbed?

[scottsdale454ss]

Im not sure why the last poster feels this to be a dumb question. I also wonder about this topic. In my first tank i had the "dont touch the sand" train of thought. But after a year up and running with good coral growth i started getting lots of hair algae and a decline in coral health. I decided to switch to a shallower tank and when i did that noticed how disgusting my sand was. I did a half barebottom setup on that one so i could suck up some of the detritus. On my current tank i have an inch or so sandbed that i plan to vaccum/stir up periodically. I cant imagine there is any benefit to leaving that crap in the sand.

[d2mini]

Closed? Why would it be closed?

It's just a discussion. I have a sandbed and it's now over a year old; and I have done very little to it. Someone local told me I should be replacing it so I am looking for other trains of thought is all... As exchanging sand really isn't my thing, and if that's what is required I will just remove the sand over time.

And I must ask, what kind of "critters" (for those who have them) do you use in your sandbed?

Replace it? LOL! Oh man.

Nassarius snails, serpent stars, blue leg hermits, cerith snails, sand sifting gobies... they all help eat food and other stuff that falls to the sand bed and some help stir it up.

[Bretts05jeep]

I have a tiger cucumber, sand sifting starfish and a fighting conch. The only thing some might consider a bad thing about the tiger cucumber (which has split and there is actually three) is they eat the sand and than deposit it behind my rock work. I started out with about three inches of sand and now in the front it ranges form 1/4" to an 1 1/2" and behind the rock it is 4" to 5" in some places. I can see the back of my tank and they are constantly eating and redepositing it in different places. IMO they are the most important part of keeping my sand clean.

I took these pictures today. This tank has been running for 3 years and the cucumbers have been in there for about 2. I have not done anything else to the sand.

http://i1102.photobucket.com/albums/g460/br600rr/SAM_2966.jpg (http://s1102.photobucket.com/user/br600rr/media/SAM_2966.jpg.html)

http://i1102.photobucket.com/albums/g460/br600rr/SAM_2971.jpg (http://s1102.photobucket.com/user/br600rr/media/SAM_2971.jpg.html)

http://i1102.photobucket.com/albums/g460/br600rr/SAM_2967.jpg (http://s1102.photobucket.com/user/br600rr/media/SAM_2967.jpg.html)

http://i1102.photobucket.com/albums/g460/br600rr/SAM_2968.jpg (http://s1102.photobucket.com/user/br600rr/media/SAM_2968.jpg.html)

[d2mini]

Oh yeah, I forgot about those! I have a few cucumbers and a fighting conch too. :)
One of my favorite things about having a reef tank is all these cool critters that have a job and help to maintain the tank.

[phillrodrigo]

Ive always siphoned mine. I dont like keeping poo as a pet. Even your clean up crew poos. A dsb works but they dont work forever. I siphon mine every time i do a water change. I think with a dsb its to easy for something to go wrong. If a powerhead falls or what ever happened it would cause havoc on your tank. Its kind of like a toilet you can flush it all the time or never flush it eventually its gonna fill up and over flow

[carriej]

Cucumbers, such cool little lads eh? What are the tiger ones like, any chance of a cuke nuke? Not gonna lie... The cuke nuke factor makes me nervous. I have a 150 gallon system (display + sump) so there is quite a bit of water volume there.

[dkeller_nc]

It's just a discussion. I have a sandbed and it's now over a year old; and I have done very little to it. Someone local told me I should be replacing it so I am looking for other trains of thought is all... As exchanging sand really isn't my thing, and if that's what is required I will just remove the sand over time.


How a sandbed fares seems to depend on the tank (and maybe the aquarist!). I've seen sandbeds that were really junked up and nearly completely covered with cyanobacteria. And I've seen some that have been in the tank for years that are pristine, even when stirred up.

My 20 gal nano has had the same sandbed for 9 years, though this isn't a "deep" sand bed - perhaps 2" depending on where in the tank you measure. There is little if anything in the bed in the way of detritus, but lots and lots of critters. Some of those critters I've put in the tank - nassarius snails mostly, but it also has a lot of micro brittle stars, tiny bristle worms, and fan worms.

[madweazl]

I usually keep a 2-3" sand bed and I do very little to it. I will vacuum detritus that accumulates in a couple spots. I dont remove any sand so if it doesnt come up very easy, it stays. This has been my M.O. for a few years now and have had no issues with its appearance or the health of the tank and its inhabitants. Previous tank had black sand that looked great but couldnt find any locally after the move and shipping it to Japan was cost prohibitive so I'm running white sand now. Detritus certainly stands out more but I want it pristine either. I dont make an effort to "stir" it but never worry about doing so either.

[d2mini]

If a powerhead falls or what ever happened it would cause havoc on your tank. Its kind of like a toilet you can flush it all the time or never flush it eventually its gonna fill up and over flow
Not really.

Cucumbers, such cool little lads eh? What are the tiger ones like, any chance of a cuke nuke? Not gonna lie... The cuke nuke factor makes me nervous. I have a 150 gallon system (display + sump) so there is quite a bit of water volume there.
Depends on the cucumbers. Some are poisonous, some are not. I've had a couple get caught in my vortech and sliced up like a vegetable cucumber on a mandolin slicer. No problems with the tank. Can't say as much for the poor cucumber though.