How does one clean sand?

[blackghostknife]

Hello All,

I'm just curious, I'm certainly no beginning hobbyist, I've been in the hobby for about 7 years now but my tanks have always bare-bottom to simplify maintenance. But my question for y'all is, how does one clean a tank with fine sand/river sand. You cannot siphon the stuff, so how do you keep your sand clean to get that spectacular natural look?

 

[tlindsey]

I vacuum my sand when the sand rises half way in the siphon tube simply bend hose, and sand will fall out of tube. It also depends on the sand your using for subtrate also some sand varies in weight.

 

[tlindsey]

Btw the cory cats, stiphodon gobies, and khuli loach help make it easy for my 30 gal. due to constant foraging Geophagus cichlids help too with their constant sifting of the sand.

 

[tlindsey]

What I mean by weight is grain size of the particular sand used.

 

[ragin_cajun]

Just keep the end of the gravel vac 1/4 inch above the sand. sand stays right where it is. or, do what lindsey said. or let the sand go halfway up the siphon tube, and lift it up a few inches and let the sand fall back outta the siphon tube.

PFS works great. Just go to the pool store, tell 'em you want pool filter sand. real cheap. nice and heavy. kinda coarse, kinda big grains. everybody here uses PFS--well, lots.

 

[Pharaoh]

I just hover above the sand. I also accept the fact that a bit of the sand is going to be picked up.

 

[shookONES]

I just work my hands through the sand, stick a hose in the tank, and drain. Works well for me.

 

[Yuki Rihwa]

I vacuum my sand when the sand rises half way in the siphon tube simply bend hose, and sand will fall out of tube. It also depends on the sand your using for subtrate also some sand varies in weight.

Same here, I used playground sand so it's easy and cheap to replace if needed.

 

[blackghostknife]

Thanks for all of the help guys! I'll definitely try different combinations of all the advice listed above when I set up my 30.

 

[sunnysjourney]

"Gravel vacuuming" a sand bed is not easy lol, like a previous reply said, no matter what a little bit of sand goes thru' your siphon and out to your yard (or sink) every time. In my experience, having earth-eaters like geos and burrowing snails like Malaysian trumpet helps a LOT in keeping the sand clean.