Best way to clean sand bed???

[skiflyer]

Hi all,

I was wondering what ways you guys use to clean your sand bed?? I have been sieving mine, but it doesn't work to well for me....it seems that the waste on the bottom is to heavy to go all the way up the tube.
Is there even another way to clean it???

Also what do you use to clean the outside glass of the tank?? I have tried plain water, windex, other window chems, but regular water seems to work the best.
Give me you input
Thanks in advance

[fragged]

There is some debate about cleaning sandbeds...some people suggest that vacuuming the bed destoys micro-fauna that aid in the breakdown of wastes. If you've got a good, diverse, healthy clean-up crew, they should perform the cleaning for you.

I use a magnetic cleaner for my tank. The outside portion has felt that cleans the glass wonderfully.

[FishinInTheDark]

How deep is your sand bed? You probably don't need to be doing so much work! Throw some Nassarius snails in there (Bluestar sells them at a fair price in the Buy/Sell/Trade forum.) The snails stir up the top layer of sand. There are some good critters that live in the sand, and you don't want to be pulling them out.

I use glass cleaner on my outside tank, but I spray it on a paper towel in another room to avoid airborne contaminants in the tank. I have heard that vinegar and water wiped off with newspaper is the absolute best glass cleaner. I haven't tried it though.

Good luck!

Conni

[skiflyer]

My sand bed is about 3" deep. How many of these snails do i need per gallon or for a 55gal tank. I have about 50 snails (don't know the name....but they only clean the window and die when they fall over), and about 15 hermits.

[MikeS]

I would not try to manually clean a sandbed that deep. Let the detrivores and bacteria do the work for ya, but always keep an eye on your water quality... :D

Mike

[FishinInTheDark]

I started my tank with lots of turbo snails, too. I hated them because they were so big that they could knock over anything not glued down. I traded some of them for Nassarius snails, which are much smaller so they don't do as much damage. And, as I stated before, they sift the sand, too.

If I were you, I'd sell or trade half of those turbo snails away. The ones you have left will be enough to clean the glass, I think. Add the same number of Nassarius, and see how they do. They're small enough that you can add a few more later if needed without causing a disruption in the nitrogen cycle.

This is all my opinion, and anyone with a different one is welcome to set me straight. I'm only relating my experiences, which are limited!

Good luck!

Conni

[shawnz28]

Like above I agree the best way to clean a sand bed or substrate in a reef tank is not at all. I would also recommend some true Nassarius snails and some cerith snails. Both will do a good job of moving around that sand bed and the will help clean up some of the waste. I also keep brittle/serpent stars in my tank to help eat unwanted food to lessen the amount of decaying food and such in the tank.

[MikeS]

bumblebee snails are also decent scavengers and will help stir the upper sand a bit...and they are neat looking :D

Mike