Cleaning Sand

[chrisjj]

hi this might be a stupid question but how do you clean sand , i have seen the syphons for gravel but would sand just get sucked up and and end up down the drain, eventually ending up with no sand left. ?

 

[nurglespuss]

hi this might be a stupid question but how do you clean sand , i have seen the syphons for gravel but would sand just get sucked up and and end up down the drain, eventually ending up with no sand left. ?

LOL if your not careful! ;p you just need to pass it over the sand, close enough to lift the debris, but not actually digging it up ;p

 

[This Old Spouse]

I put my hose just above the surface of the sand and make circles to form little whirlpools. Usually the poo and debris are sucked right up and leaves the sand on the bottom.

 

[snake007]

I tried this method but it doesnt work for me, Especially pleco poo, very tough to pick up with the gravel siphon.

 

[MegaZerino]

you could also go out and buy some snails, they help eat the waste and burrow into the sand to help prevent gas bubbles building up

 

[nurglespuss]

you could also go out and buy some snails, they help eat the waste and burrow into the sand to help prevent gas bubbles building up

Very true, malaysian trumpet snails are great for that! - but my ramshorns create even more poo!

 

[Harlequins]

I put my hose just above the surface of the sand and make circles to form little whirlpools. Usually the poo and debris are sucked right up and leaves the sand on the bottom.

+1 , if you do end up with sand in your bucket,just rinse it off and pop it back in the tank

 

[chrisjj]

thanks for the advice.

 

[safire_eye]

One other thing, just use a tube or length of hose without the large bit on the end (only really useful for digging into gravel) it'll sucks a lot better.

 

[This Old Spouse]

I just went out to buy 12 feet of clear tubing @ $.29 a foot.

 

[BigbruiserAl]

you could also go out and buy some snails, they help eat the waste and burrow into the sand to help prevent gas bubbles building up

Snails do not eat any fish's poo, that munch on mulm, algae etc. They will burrow into the sand as you say this in it self can move the poo around and get sucked up by the intake

 

[This Old Spouse]

I tried this method but it doesnt work for me, Especially pleco poo, very tough to pick up with the gravel siphon.

Just saw this ... there's not much on earth that will take care of pleco poo short of daily siphons.

I finally rehomed my common pleco and my poo problems disappeared right along with it! Now my filters take care of the poo.

 

[MegaZerino]

you could also go out and buy some snails, they help eat the waste and burrow into the sand to help prevent gas bubbles building up

Snails do not eat any fish's poo, that munch on mulm, algae etc. They will burrow into the sand as you say this in it self can move the poo around and get sucked up by the intake

so basically, getting snails = poo removed from tank in one way or another

 

[chrisjj]

One other thing, just use a tube or length of hose without the large bit on the end (only really useful for digging into gravel) it'll sucks a lot better.

 

[cynic]

One other thing, just use a tube or length of hose without the large bit on the end (only really useful for digging into gravel) it'll sucks a lot better.

But be VERY careful with it if your fish are small enough to get sucked up too, the fish will come and see whats going on and the small diameter tube will have a LOT more suck. I do it in my tank between the plant stems.