Fish Poop!

[JenJ]

 Is that because sand is easier in general to pickup?   I have normal size gravel mixed with large gravel.  I just put it into the gravel and only the "matter" is picked up.     

Yes, exactly that! I'm sure it's not actually designed for use with sand. The sand is almost as light as the debris, so even being careful, it's difficult to not suck any up.

 

[Starletta]

I really like the look of sand, but didn't use it as it does look hard to clean.  Now, if we could only invent a heavy sand! 

 
Just edited the post as I thought of something.  I wonder if there is a very light mesh/nylon type of material to lay over the sand? Clean up would be a breeze - just vacuum over the mesh/nylon.

 

[eaglesaquarium]

The real reason for sand is so that cories and other bottom dwellers can dig and root around in it.  A nylon mesh would be a very bad idea for them.
 
I find my sand is fairly easily to clean with just a plastic tube or hose.  Nothing extra... Stronger suction, so I stay a good bit off the sand and the swirling motion gets the debris moving...  I actually have found my planting substrate is actually lighter than my sand.  

 

[dgwebster]

Hmm. If only I could split another 'Y' on my filter, this time the input to the canister and pop a couple of valves on it. Hook it all up through a pre-filter filter from All Pond Solutions and BAM its got the suction power of my filter intake, but all the poop and excess sand gets stuck in the pre filter filter. Clean the filter out regularly, re-wash and re-add any sand build up.

 

[Steffyboy]

Cheers guys. Going to try a thinner syphon, see if that works better to pin point the poop.
The one i have has a wide head on and quite a thick tube so maybe getting a thinner one would do?