Fish poo O_o

[R3GG]

Hi, just converted to sand from gravel and it looks great but the fish poop all over it and its much more visible on sand than gravel! I've tried poking the poos with a big stick But they don't seem to go away. Does anyone know of an efficient way of dispersing fish poo in a sand tank - i dont think using a siphon is a good idea as it sucks the sand up.
Cheers

 

[Cheese Specialist]

I use my gravel cleaner and hover over the bottom, sucks it up a treat!! If any sand happens to go through it, I collect it from the bucked after emptying the water.

HTH

By the way, just think...when you had gravel all that poo went in/under it and could not be removed. At least now you can get rid of it.

 

[impur]

You have discovered the drawback to sand. That is the exact reason i won't use it in my FW tanks. I tried for about a year to find an easy or effective way to remove that stuff off the sandbed and not remove sand. Never did find a way and i tried everything under the sun

With gravel i just drain the water to my sink, then reverse the waterbed filler thing and fill it back up. Easy as pie. No more lugging buckets and spilling water etc.


Good luck

 

[Cheese Specialist]

You have discovered the drawback to sand. That is the exact reason i won't use it in my FW tanks. I tried for about a year to find an easy or effective way to remove that stuff off the sandbed and not remove sand. Never did find a way and i tried everything under the sun

Good luck

LOL

You should have tried my way, or tried harder!

Seriously, it's easy peasy!! I did mine today. I just use a Marina gravel cleaner that I got for £4.

 

[R3GG]

Good idea Cheese, i could recover the sand, how many times a week do you have to do it? Mine has built up fairly bad and the fish have only been there 3 days. Thanks Impur, i was thinking of maybe making a mesh to go over the end of the siphon but sand is smaller than poo

 

[Cheese Specialist]

i was thinking of maybe making a mesh to go over the end of the siphon but sand is smaller than poo

Sand is also heavier than poo and so the poo goes up easier than the sand.

I do it whenever I do a waterchange which is weekly. You could do it more often if you wanted, try not to take our too much water at once.

 

[R3GG]

You're definitely more intelligent than Bush Smart thinking

 

[ooSho]

Sand really is easy to clean, I do what Cheese Specialist does...

I never really had a problem with my gravel vac. sucking up sand.

 

[R3GG]

Yeah, i havent tried my siphon on the sand but i've heard it will suck the sand up, not a prob tho if i'm careful and just put it back in.

 

[miss_168]

I just use a fishnet and shake it a bit, the pooh will stay in the net (well the longer ones) and the sand gets filtered back out... easy peasy and i also use a gravel cleaner!

 

[Inchworm]

Hi R3GG

The thing that many people don't realize is that it takes practice to get good with a siphon. Keep trying and eventually you will get a "feel" for how to use it most efficiently.

The suction, or pulling power, of the siphon is controlled by gravity. The higher or lower your bucket is will effect the suction. So will the distance from whatever you want to clean up.

You might want to try waving the siphon over the dirt to cause it to float up a little from the sand before you vacuum it. I'm not sure that it works with sand, but I do that with a bare bottom fry tank and it makes it easier to gather up.

 

[R3GG]

Thanks Inchworm, i have used the siphon a lot whilst moving the tanks around, filling and emptying them, i'll give this a go tho and try not to empty all sand in my tank onto the floor
Cheers!
p.s
looking at your sig Miss_168 your 24" does sound a little tight for room!

 

[impur]

i was thinking of maybe making a mesh to go over the end of the siphon but sand is smaller than poo

Doesn't work, i've tried it.

 

[R3GG]

LoL, ok, i'll just siphon.

 

[Teelie]

I use a net to catch it if I don't need to do a water change. It works great as the grains fall through the mesh but the crap literally and figuratively, doesn't.