Cleaning Sand?

[Wedge]

Hi

I have a 150 Ltr tank thats has a 2" sand bottom (used to be gravel), now ive seen the gravel vacs which clean the gravel, but how do you clean out all the rubbish that builds up on the sand without sucking up all the sand?

Is there a sand vac out there? )

 

[ChrisP]

Just usea gravel vac but keep it an inch or so away from the substrate and swirl it around, all the crap gets sucked up and the sand stays.

 

[simonbrown403]

I,ve found it best to use a piece of clear plastic pipe inserted into the syphon, then what i do is put my finger over the eng to stop the flow and stir the sand up a little, take my finger off and suck up all the debre before it gets to far.

I seam to get more of the dirt up, its easyer to get around decor than them big gravel vacs and it also airates the sand a little and stops it going anarobic.

But thats just me

 

[superjalami30]

You could also put the vac on an angle in the sand, it wont suck up the sand doing it this way, providing you have your vac set to lightly suck up the gunk in the sand.

 

[rixy]

i have a powerful twin outlet air pump.i have 2 x 6" airstones and when i turn the airpump on,it swirls 95% of the mess around in the water and then it gets sucked in the filter.i also do(as suggested in previous posts) use my piece of pipe and hold it approx 1" above the sand,no closer,or you'll have more sand in your bucket than in your tank lol.if your tank is fairly empty ie not many plants,you can use your fish net.use your hand and gently agitate the sand.all the mess will lift up off the sand and you can catch it in the net.the airpump plus my 9 sterbai cory's keep it the cleanest out off all the options i have listed(my opinion only)