Is vacuuming your sand bed a necessity?

[Gunsnroses]

My 180 gallon has been set up for 12 weeks now. I have vacuumed the sand bed twice and it really freaks my fish out.
Since I have a Diamond Goby sifting sand as well as hermit crabs, Emerald crab, Peppermint shrimp and Cleaner shrimp, could I get away with not cleaning sand?
My sand bed is 2" deep at its deepest.

[Indymann99]

my Goby is a hard worker and keeps the sand clean.

I also have Nassarias snails to stir the sand.

I never touch it.

[Kies1]

i have never vacuumed my sand bed in my 90 gallon. Strawberry conch snails among other things to clean the sand

[PaleHorse]

Your not supposed to vacuum your sand bed. Your missing something in there..

[Gunsnroses]

Every time I put my siphon tube in the water, my fish freak out. I had a clown fish hit a piece of rock so hard one time I thought he was dead. And my other fish either dart to the surface or under rocks. Just don't want to stress them out if it's really not necessary.
My Goby is moving sand from sun up to sun down. As are my hermits.
I don't have any snails yet though.

[planedoc]

I never vacuum my sand, that's what the goby and naassarias snails are for. Back in the day when undergravel filters were popular sand vacuuming was a necessity.

[bogg]

None of you guys read sunnyxs' thread?

[Kyle918]

None of you guys read sunnyxs' thread?

Which thread specifically? That statement alone doesn't contrite much.

FWIW, I stir my sandbed during each water change. Never had a problem and my fish don't seem to care. If any sand gets on the coral, I use a turkey baster to blow the sand particles off and to dislodge anything in the rocks.

Did you QT first? My clowns used to nip my hands any time I put my hands in to clean the QT. After the 8 weeks I guess they got accustomed to it because they don't pay me much attention any more. My cleaner chimp actually comes to my hands and cleans my fingers while I'm in the tank.

[cloak]

For those of you who are relying on a goby, a conch, or some nassarius snails to help keep your SSB clean, use your finger, a stick, or a small power head and really stir the substrate up. I guaranty you it's not as clean as you may think. Unless you plan on keeping poop as a pet, vacuuming your SSB on occasion is a good practice to get into IMO. Get that muck out of there. GL.

[Spiffy]

Your sand bed is a part of you bio-filtration, and every time you stir it up, you intterupt the ability of you sand bed to do it's job. I have crushed aragonite, and I never touch it.

[Paul B]

Back in the day when undergravel filters were popular sand vacuuming was a necessity.

I don't vacuum my "gravel" and I still use a undergravel filter. Does that mean my tank is going to crash next Tuesday?

[whosurcaddie]

For those of you who are relying on a goby, a conch, or some nassarius snails to help keep your SSB clean, use your finger, a stick, or a small power head and really stir the substrate up. I guaranty you it's not as clean as you may think. Unless you plan on keeping poop as a pet, vacuuming your SSB on occasion is a good practice to get into IMO. Get that muck out of there. GL.

This +1 It gets nasty down there. While I don't vacuum my bed I do turn it over ans stir it once a week and let my filter socks catch the debris.

[whosurcaddie]

Your sand bed is a part of you bio-filtration, and every time you stir it up, you intterupt the ability of you sand bed to do it's job. I have crushed aragonite, and I never touch it.

Only if you have a DSB if you have a sand bed of 2 inches or less your hurting nothing.

[fed.gallardo]

This made me LOL

Which thread specifically? That statement alone doesn't contrite much.

FWIW, I stir my sandbed during each water change. Never had a problem and my fish don't seem to care. If any sand gets on the coral, I use a turkey baster to blow the sand particles off and to dislodge anything in the rocks.

Did you QT first? My clowns used to nip my hands any time I put my hands in to clean the QT. After the 8 weeks I guess they got accustomed to it because they don't pay me much attention any more. My cleaner chimp actually comes to my hands and cleans my fingers while I'm in the tank.

[radobahn]

For those of you who are relying on a goby, a conch, or some nassarius snails to help keep your SSB clean, use your finger, a stick, or a small power head and really stir the substrate up. I guaranty you it's not as clean as you may think. Unless you plan on keeping poop as a pet, vacuuming your SSB on occasion is a good practice to get into IMO. Get that muck out of there. GL.

Yup, I've been stirring up my sand bed about twice a week for years.. especially right before a water change. If I had a DSB then no way, but I only have 1-2 inches of sand and like to keep it looking new and clean..

[Mcgeezer]

Just stir it lightly ....don't vacuum it

[shermanator]

Just stir it lightly ....don't vacuum it

Why?

When stirring my sand bed, I do it with the siphon and siphon out the fish and snail poop. The water that comes out is pretty nasty. You really want to leave poop in your tank?

[pmrossetti]

I always vacuumed mine. Why have dirty sand.

[Spiffy]

This +1 It gets nasty down there. While I don't vacuum my bed I do turn it over ans stir it once a week and let my filter socks catch the debris.

True. I forgot that little detail.

[dmort]

I vacuum the stand bed every other water change. I pinch the siphon tube to limit water flow so I don't suck too much and through.

Although I can't point you to specific threads I have read a lot totm threads in which the reef keeper describes a maintenance routine that includes even taking all the live rock out and vacuum under the rock.

Also, if you use egg crate under your rock work there will definitely be some junk build up that cleaning and sifting creatures won't get to.

[ca1ore]

Not a necessity, no. I think you will find some experienced reefer do it; others do not. I am in the latter camp. I maintain a sand depth of about 2 inches, but I think it is incorrect to assume just because it is not technically a DSB, that the sand doesn't develop bacterial colonies and populations of benthic worms - mine certainly has plenty of the latter, and I assume also of the former.

With an adequate CUC and intank flow, I simply do not get buildup on the sand, and any stuff that makes its way into the sand provides food for the masses of small worms. Even if the bacterial colonies would be unaffected, stirring or vacuuming severely disrupts these worm colonies so I don't do it. Far better, IMO, to find animals to eat things than rely on mechanical removal.

[inetmug]

The OP asked if it was a necessity. The answer is... probably no.

Depending on your setup, if you have an area that settles, using the sand vacuum which only lightly disrupts the top 1/4" or so, may not be a bad idea. The guy posting about cyano on his sand in the other thread, could maybe benefit from that practice, at least in the short term.

If you have large substrate like crush coral, probably not a bad idea.

[atrox]

The question you ask is going to get you two very diff schools of thought, those that vac and those that don't. In my exp here is what I have learned.

1. I like the way sand looks in the tank I will always use it.
2. Anything under 3 inches of sand needs to be cleaned during water changes. You'll be shocked with what comes out of there.
3. If over three inches I always vac the top 1/2". I do it in quarters this quarter this water change that quarter next change etc.
4. Clean up crew works to spot clean if it's diverse and balanced.

The sand bed is not some ticking timebomb if given regular maintenance it will function well and add to a natural reef, which is what we all strive for.

[Gunsnroses]

So if I do vacuum the sand, should I just pull debris from the top layer or go all the way to the glass bottom?

[atrox]

I never go to the bottom in my 6" bed, but anything less than two I would go all the way to bottom or simply tape a hard piece of plastic to the siphon vac so it sticks out a few inches from the vac so you can stir the sand bed without actually placing it in the the sand and just vac up sediment that is stirred up.