How to Clean Fine Sand?

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Razor7Music

Candiru
MFK Member
Dec 18, 2008
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Irvine, CA
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Hello

I'm seeing more Tany tanks with very fine sand substrate and I'm wondering how you keep it clean?

Thanks

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geophagus fish constantly sifting anything out of the sand that's edible! and good filtration. Add a ray to kick up the sand too and youre all set. Just make sure your tank is big enough :-)
 
Good filtration, good maintenance (Vac'ing/skimming the surface of the sand.) and fish that like to dig.

+1 if you tanks is really small i would suggest a group of pygmy cories or if you have a medium sized tank (20-40) i would get some regular cories
 
I see vacuuming the surface of the sand, but what kind of vacuum can clean fine sand and not suck up the sand?

I'm trying to keep my tank 100% Tanganyikan, so I have a couple petricola. They come out to eat the food that settled to the bottom, but I don't know how much sifting they're doing.

OT: Does anyone know if petricola eat algae?

Thanks

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In my 180 I'm running 2- FX5's and it took some playing with the outlets to get the right flow, for my filter intakes to get most of it. The more complex you make the decor the more dead spots you will have. As of now I have one dead spot that will collect debris and I just use the battery operated vacuum and spot clean. You petricola will stir it up for your filters, you could pick up some more they get very entertaining when there is like six of them. If you find that you still need to vacuum , just graze the vacuum tube over the sand, also it is a good practice to stir up the sand yourself every month or two.
 
Get some Malaysian Trumpet Snails. They bury and clean it from the inside out for you.


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It's always about keeping the balance. In a functional tank, MTS are your welcome cleaning crew. People who over feed see them as a nuisance but don't connect the dots to see that it's their own fault that snails get out of hand. Be smart about feeding your fish, and you'll enjoy the biodiversity and added benefits that MTS offer


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