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View Full Version : Disturbing shallow sand bed questions


cheucklate
01/01/2016, 10:24 PM
Greetings, currently I've been stirring up my 3/4 inch crushed coral sand bed and blowing the rocks with a turkey baster every few days. I always see detritus kick up (at least I think it is detritus). My question is, is this doing more harm than good or should I keep at it. I understand some micro-organisms live in the sand am I essentially killing them every time? Originally I was doing this to avoid long term problems like old tank syndrome. Thoughts? Thanks.

Xxero
01/01/2016, 10:37 PM
My first thought is that crushed coral is really bad about trapping detritus. I would probably vacuum/tumble the bed during water changes instead of stirring things around. Stirring it all about can also create nitrate spikes, I believe. GL! :bigeyes:

ca1ore
01/01/2016, 11:12 PM
At 3/4" you're not likely to run into any anaerobic problems, and any detritus released should be quickly processed by the filtration system. I'd actually think it's probably coral dust more than detritus.

Sk8r
01/02/2016, 01:27 AM
Run a filter sock after you've kicked it up.