How Do You Clean Sand?

[sic0198]

How do you clean sand? Do you do it the same way you clean gravel?

 

[pauly]

How do you clean sand? Do you do it the same way you clean gravel?

Do a search on here. But basically you need to clean it in a bucket of water. Swish around a bit then empty water (sand stays at bottom of bucket). Then refill with water and repeat until what you're throwing away is clean water.

Paul.

 

[three-fingers]

Or do you mean like once it's in the tank, for maintainance?

 

[Gregboi]

i put mine in a old pillow case and it workd perfect

 

[sic0198]

Or do you mean like once it's in the tank, for maintainance?

Yeah

 

[Genesis]

Bump
I wanna know too!

 

[sic0198]

Bump

 

[kj23502]

I've read to just skim along above the sand with one of the siphon hoses. That way you won't suck up the sand(like I did the first time... )

I've also thought about stirring the sand a little bit and then doing a water change. The water change would take out some junk and the filters would get some of the rest, I would think. Not stirring it alot though. I've heard that sand is really bad for filters. (I haven't tried this yet)

 

[three-fingers]

I don't clean my sand, I have an army of malaysian trumpet snails that drag anything lying on the surface underneath, where it ultimately is broken down and used by the roots of the plants in my tank.
I would highly recommend a combination of MTS and plants, as it's much easier than skimming the surface with a gravel vac (as described), and using a gravel vac is a real pain in deep tanks.

 

[kj23502]

I don't clean my sand, I have an army of malaysian trumpet snails that drag anything lying on the surface underneath, where it ultimately is broken down and used by the roots of the plants in my tank.
I would highly recommend a combination of MTS and plants, as it's much easier than skimming the surface with a gravel vac (as described), and using a gravel vac is a real pain in deep tanks.

Easier said than done for me....as mbuna cichlids suck the snails from their shells! And they dig up plants.....sigh.....yea i know..I have a 125 gallon that's 26" deep and cleaning sand slightly sucks!

 

[three-fingers]

Lol, so do my yo-yo loaches and synodonis, and basically any other fish that sees a snail during n the day, new plant growth is often eaten too (even my Anubias and java fern).

I had problems until I dumped in enough snails, now I couldn't get rid of them if I wanted to .
Same goes with plants provided you choose the easiest low light plants (like I did).

Give it time and continue adding loads snails/plants, should eventually work, though mbuna are a bit different from the 'standard community tank' .

 

[kimberly*brackish]

ya i was wondering how to clean my sand in my 72 gal brackish tank! i have 2 gpp. green spotted puffers! so ne snails would be gone instantly! i have a 1 gal tank just for thier snails! and i just had some balloon molly fry i stuck in thier. i use the gravel sucker on the sand and it really doesnt work well at all! i mean i get some but i get alot of water and not so much poopie! lol i used the fish net to skimm the bottom of the tank it work well except that my tank has some big objects in it and the net doesnt glide everywhere expecially those tight areas between stuff where the poop collects! what to do grrr

 

[murphyk32]

honestly myself and my friend both for the year we have owned our tanks have just syphoned it, and used algea eaters (like snails), just watch you dont get eggs laid and an infestation, unless u want one. honestly, the filter, and cleaning // water changes frequently, itll be fine.

Murph

 

[andywg]

How do you clean sand?

I don't.

 

[seangee]

How do you clean sand? Do you do it the same way you clean gravel?

I use MTS and plants. These are ably assisted by 8 corys so I never touch it myself