How To Clean Sand Bottom

[metulburr]

So i have sand bottom. I can see the poop build up at the bottom. I tried using both large and small vacuums and they suck both the poop and sand up. Mostly though the sand comes up faster than the poop. So i am not sure how to clean sand without removing sand?

 

[eaglesaquarium]

Little swirly motion a bit above the sand will move the poo around and it will get caught up in the siphon... patience is the key and keeping the tube above the sand.
 
 
A little sand will usually get taken out of course, not very much, and usually the stuff that would just cloud up the water more anyway.

 

[Akasha72]

it is almost impossible to clean sand without sucking some sand up. I've actually stopped trying now. The best gadget I've tried is an Algarde vac that runs off an air pump. It sucks the debris into a cotton bag so no water is removed. I don't know if it's available in the U.S but this is it if you want to try
 
http/www.amazon.co.uk/Algarde-42150S-Power-Cleaner-Single/dp/B000S5JMZ6
 
 
What you can do with this is to swish the cleaner around in a circular motion just above the substrate causing a little vortex and this moves the debris and only a small amount of sand. It's time consuming but it does work

 

[Bubbelzzz]

If you keep the hose a couple of cm above the sand will work just fine. For me it does at least. However, as said before, you will always suck some sand up as well. Once in a while you could add some extra sand to the tank if you find that the bottom has become too thin. A bag of sand isn't that expensive so I wouldn't worry about it too much.

 

[dopieopie]

I usually hover over anything big and unsightly, and give the rest a little swirl and hover over it after. I usually end up only suckling up minimal amounts of sand.

 

[Essjay]

If you use a bucket to do water changes, just wash the sand that ends up in the bucket and put it back in the tank.