Best Way To Clean Sand?

[osiris]

i have recently purchased sand to go in my new 250 litre setup and was just wonderong what the best way to clean it is? i have been used to pebbles for the past few years and for that i have just used those syphony vacume things and it wordked fine bt am i right to assume that the sand will get sucked up with the water??
thanks

 

[Piltdownpaul]

Personally i swirl a syphon gravel cleaner about half inch above the sand so that the fish "poo" lifts off the sand. It then gets sucked up.

 

[Jodes]

Is there any more tips about cleaning sand because i m currently looking at buying sand for my tank?

Jodi

 

[doresy]

As well as regular vaccing I suggest an army of Cory. My gang turn over the sand every night to make it look just like new each morning. Poo gets dissolved into the water and ends up in the filter floss.

Don't see why people have so much trouble keeping it clean (except plecco keepers of course!)

 

[spesh]

8no sterbai cory's do the job for me

 

[Inchworm]

Hi osiris

Your tank is big enough that investing in as Python would probably save you a lot of effort when cleaning your tank.

http/www.pythonproducts.com/aqprod.html

It is a hose that connects to your faucet and the water pressure sucks the water from the tank along with it. Then you can refill the tank with it as well. It saves you the inconvenience of hauling buckets of water around.

To clean debris from the surface of the sand, just swirl the end above the sand to create a small whirlpool like effect, or slowly pass the sucking end over the debris to remove it while not stirring it up.

_____

doresy,

I agree with you about the corys being clean fish, but they do not turn the sand over; they only make dents in the surface. To avoid gas pockets forming (if your sand is more than an inch or so deep) it's best to give it an occasional stir with your fingers.

 

[osiris]

ok, wkd , thanks alot