Cleaning Sand

[PrettyDiscus]

How are you supposed to clean sand effectively? I have tried using my gravel cleaning but it just sucks loads of sand up and thats no good. I have tried using a net but its not effective enough. Is there anything worth buying that is used specifically for cleaning sand? What do you clean your sand with?

 

[SugarQube]

I go over the top lightly with the hoover and that seems to work fine for me My 2 Horseface Loach do a good job as well keeping the sand turned over and eat anything foodwise that gets left. I also lightly swish the sand twice a week

 

[LiveLifeGoJump]

I changed to sand from gravel & don't have to clean the bottom much now, the corys & clown loaches keep it clean most of the time. Once a monthe (or even less often) is par for the coarse now.

When I do clean I keep the tube approx 1/2" above the sand ond wave it about a bit. That swirls the water lifting the bit much that is there & the syphon tube (approx 8mm bore) does the rest.

After cleaning the bottom of a 24" x 12" tank there is not enough sand in the pail to cover a penny (10 cents size?).

Sugarcube, do you really have to do THAT much work with sand. I was thinking once a moth was too often & I have a habit of overfeeding that I'm trying to get out of.

 

[xJake]

I changed to sand from gravel & don't have to clean the bottom much now, the corys & clown loaches keep it clean most of the time.

So... what your saying is that your cories and clown loaches eat the other fish's poop?

I clean mine once a week without moving any decor and once every two weeks with removing the rocks and driftwood. If you let things get too nasty in the sand it can affect the health of your fish; especially so if you have bottom feeders as they spend all their time in it.

 

[vancouver]

You really need something stirring the sand up a lot for the crap to settle on the top for easy cleaning..

loaches do a good job with that

 

[PrettyDiscus]

Well i have never even cleaned it and ive had it since february this year. When i did a water change i put the bucket of water in and it churned all of the sand and then i got a large net and i scooped all the crap out.
Is this good enough? also there are plants and rocks in the way so its difficult to use a gravel vac because there are other places that need to be cleaned but there is too much rocks and plants in the way.