How to siphon in sand?

[GuppSword]

Hi,

I have never siphoned a sand aquarium; it is newly established, just two weeks.
I have no experience and I don't know what exactly to choose from the modestly priced ones ...

And on Amazon I find this product:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07DBJ9YVB/?tag=ff0d01-20

Is it true that it can also be used for sand?.

But what worries me the most is that the siphoning of the sand seems to me more complicated than that of the gravel ... I have looked for a video on how to do this in the sand but I have not found any ...

Thanks.

 

[Rocky998]

Yeah. Any siphon should work both ways.
Just don't go really deep into the sand. Only about and inch in for a deep clean. For light cleanings just graze the top

 

[Byron]

The water changer pictured is a manual, and you need to be careful to control the suction. I don't know if the siphon starting "bulb" can be used to control the suction once it begins. Some members have suggested bending the tube (a kink) to achieve a lower flow. The "python" type that fastens direct to the faucet has less suction. The issue here is that the sand can easily be sucked up if too great a suction force. Though presumably this would be emptying into a bucket so the sand could be rinsed and poured back afterwards.

Another point is you may not want to clean much into the sand. If you have live plants, the detritus accumulating in the sand is broken down by bacteria and provides significant plant nutrients, especially CO2 and ammonia. And, if you do not overfeed, the sand should not get too bad anyway, provided the fish load is within reason.

I have had tanks that never saw the sand being touched, and other tanks where I did some cleaning. Holding the water changer just above the sand and moving it usually dislodges whatever may be on the surface, and that may be all you need.

 

[GuppSword]

I don't know if the plants I have will meet those requirements for such a complete ecosystem, as the ideal one you seem to indicate here, I acquired them just because I thought they were pretty, but I don't think they take root, except the H Lilacina -- although I put them inside the sand as if they were planted, do you know if they take root?.

Plants: Green Cabomba, Hornwort Ceratophyllum and Alternanthera Lilacina

 

[CarissaT]

On the question about the sand, my tank is about 80% sand 20% gravel, I have plants that are heavily rooted too so I just put the siphon basically onto the sand bed when I’m cleaning, it sucks up some sand and it mostly falls back down once I lift up the tube from the surface of the sand bed. Sometimes if it’s really dirty like in a corner I will push the tube right down into the sand and it will suction the sand up a lot then, still most of it falls back down and what doesn’t, I just scoop up by hand out of the bucket after I empty the water and put it back into the tank. But my tank is 18” high so my siphon tube is pretty tall which helps a lot of sand fall back down before it gets suctioned into the hose. Just try to get one with the siphon tube part as tall as your tank.

 

[Byron]

Those are all stem plants. You can "plant" the cut end in the sand, possibly weighing it down with a pebble or two, and roots will develop from the buried end. You can buy a couple of inches of the cut end to hold it down better. As the stems lengthen, they will grow toward the light and roots may appear from any of the nodes along the stems. You can let the plants grow to the surface and along it, but just bee aware that the leaves along the lowest ends of the stems may die off. The plant grows toward the light, and the new growth at the tip end is what gets the plants' nourishment.

The substrate is the prime source of CO2, which is why we tend to leave it alone. These are fast growing plants, so they need good light and nutrients, and CO2 is often the nutrient that gives out first. At night the CO2 continues to be produced, and during daylight (the tank light being on) this CO2 is used in photosynthesis.

 

[CarissaT]

Those are all stem plants. You can "plant" the cut end in the sand, possibly weighing it down with a pebble or two, and roots will develop from the buried end. You can buy a couple of inches of the cut end to hold it down better. As the stems lengthen, they will grow toward the light and roots may appear from any of the nodes along the stems. You can let the plants grow to the surface and along it, but just bee aware that the leaves along the lowest ends of the stems may die off. The plant grows toward the light, and the new growth at the tip end is what gets the plants' nourishment.

The substrate is the prime source of CO2, which is why we tend to leave it alone. These are fast growing plants, so they need good light and nutrients, and CO2 is often the nutrient that gives out first. At night the CO2 continues to be produced, and during daylight (the tank light being on) this CO2 is used in photosynthesis.

I’m just curious how does substrate provide co2?

 

[Byron]

I’m just curious how does substrate provide co2?

The organic matter that settles down into the substrate will be broken down by bacteria. Decomposition of organic matter everywhere releases ammonia and CO2. The respiration of all fish and plants, and some species of bacteria, also release CO2 of course, but the amount is no where close to what the substrate can provide. In my low-tech planted tanks, the CO2 was the limiting factor for plant growth, as it is in such setups. Light we can extend, other nutrients we can add, but carbon as CO2 is completely natural, so you want as much as you can get--within reason obviously. This is why my cories always had increased respiration toward the end of the dark (night) period. I increased the surface disturbance to deal with this. It may have driven off some CO2, but my fish come first.

 

[CarissaT]

The organic matter that settles down into the substrate will be broken down by bacteria. Decomposition of organic matter everywhere releases ammonia and CO2. The respiration of all fish and plants, and some species of bacteria, also release CO2 of course, but the amount is no where close to what the substrate can provide. In my low-tech planted tanks, the CO2 was the limiting factor for plant growth, as it is in such setups. Light we can extend, other nutrients we can add, but carbon as CO2 is completely natural, so you want as much as you can get--within reason obviously. This is why my cories always had increased respiration toward the end of the dark (night) period. I increased the surface disturbance to deal with this. It may have driven off some CO2, but my fish come first.

Thanks! I knew decomposition created ammonia but didn’t realize that it could contribute so much to co2.