How To Clean Sand Substrate

[Seal36]

I have recently changed from gravel to sand and when I would clean my tank out when gravel was in it I would just stick the siphon down in the gravel. My question is do I need to do this with the sand or do I just Hoover over the top of the sand and collect any dirt that has collected on there. Also there are lots of live plants in my tank now so can I clean it without disrupting them or do I need to uproot them from Tom

 

[fluttermoth]

If you move your syphon in small circles a few cms above the sand, the dirt should swirl up. You don't need to dig into it, as all the dirt sits ontop anyway. Just go around the plants the best you can; don't uproot them!

All mature tanks will have a certain amount of mulm on the substrate; it's quite normal and nothing to worry about, as long as you're doing your water changes

 

[l_l_l]

Fluttermoth is right!
Even with gravel you don't really have to dig in the gravel, especially with a planted tank, your plants love to eat poop!

 

[Seal36]

Ah ok thank you very much I always thought that you had to dig down to get rid off all the muck and also I have read that sometimes chambers of chemicals can build up under the sand is this true and how can I stop them forming. I have some panda Cory's that turn over the sand will this help stopping the build up if it is true from Tom

 

[ythao01]

I think the gas bubble thing is more hyped up then it should be. you don't really need to worry about it if you only have an inch or so of sand in your tank.

But if you do have more then an inch then you could get Malaysian trumpet snails if you don't mind snails. They burrow under the sand and come up at night, but can still take over your tank if not controlled. Or you could do what I do and take a long chopstick and poke n stir around everywhere.

 

[Seal36]

My sand it's only about an inch deep and the Cory's turn it over quite well but I might use your chop stick idea just to make sure from Tom