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GlobalEvan
11/15/2006, 12:55 PM
when you siphon water out for water changes, do you stirr around in the sand bed to get dirt out? try and suck dirt off the rocks? or just let it all sit?
Dubbin1
11/15/2006, 12:58 PM
I don't touch the sand at all. If I see a mess on the rocks I will sometimes siphon it off. For the most part I just keep the hose at the top and just siphon water out.
fsn77
11/15/2006, 12:59 PM
If you have a deep sand bed, then you don't want to agitate it any more than necessary.
Many people use a turkey baster to stir up the detritus that's settled on the rock, then suck it out with the siphon. Sucking the detritus off the rock is ok.
a2fire2i
11/15/2006, 01:07 PM
i just go over the sand bed, but never stir it up. I also use the turkey baster method for the rocks..
Randall_James
11/15/2006, 01:08 PM
I have a tube that hooks to a powerhead and I blow off my liverock at water changes
cgjw2000
11/15/2006, 01:09 PM
Yep, just blow off stuff from rock and then take water out... CC has to be siphoned!
tanker
11/15/2006, 01:25 PM
I just siphon water from anywhere. After putting in new water I run a HOT magnum with the micron filter overnight.
MimicTang
11/15/2006, 01:46 PM
use turkey baster to blast any rock then stick the siphon on it.
sarduci
11/15/2006, 03:03 PM
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8552246#post8552246 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by cgjw2000
CC has to be siphoned!

Only if you overfeed and there is old food sitting on the bottom, but that goes for anything.
Myrphie
11/15/2006, 03:12 PM
Actually the coarse grains of CC allow detritus to more easily work its way down in there. You can be very careful and have no excessive food in the tank and a CC substrate WILL get dirty.