Cleaning fine sand

[predatorkeeper87]

Hello; In an established tank the beneficial bacteria (bb) are on many surfaces in the tank. There might be a small impact if the substrate vac was done at the same time as a complete cleaning/replacement of the filter system. Even then the colonies of bb would be in the remaining substrate and on the other surfaces. Also not a large percentage of the substrate would be removed at any single water change.
At any rate I did this for a number of years with no ill effects to the tank. It was something of a chore. I believe your worry is unfounded.

haha I'm pretty good at unfounded worries. I definitely think its a good practice if done like you do it.

 

[predatorkeeper87]

Would have a negligible impact at best


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I think my thought process is stuck in "you have an overstocked tank" mode from all the other similar questions that have been posed on here. When dealing with a tank thats close or at capacity I just prefer to impact the bb colonies as little as possible. granted I dont think anyone should keep a tank anywhere near capacity ever, but its a growing trend.

 

[predatorkeeper87]

+1. If you want to play it safe then once a month just turn off all the filtrations and stir up the sand. After about a half hour, turn the filtrations back on.

+1, or invest in a super cheap HOB filter to help clear the tank once you stir the sand, I keep a little 10g rated HOB for when I stir up substrate, I'm not real worried the impeller gets beat up in it, and it helps clear the particles out of the water.

 

[lardieleftover]

Keep sand layer thin, and the Loaches will do the work. I have a powerhead on one side of the tank that moves sand around which is rather annoying but each week I just push the sand back into place. No gas pockets in this new tank with very thin layer of sand.
If you do have gas pockets, just move sand around when you change water each week with hands or gravel vac tube

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[Unattended Fish]

Hello; A practice I have used is to have an amount of clean substrate in a bucket on hand. I would vac the dirty substrate into an empty bucket along with the water during water changes. I would then put the clean substrate back into the tank. I would then rinse the substrate removed from the tank to have it ready for the next water change. By rotating the area siphoned during water changes the tank can eventually be entirely done this way. It is like mowing grass in that by the time you make a full round, it is time to start over.

It's seems like a good practice but, at 300g I think I'm gonna need a much larger bucket .

 

[Unattended Fish]

Yes my returns and loaches do push the around till this day, got soo tired I just left the sand how it is . One side has all the sand and the other is bare lol. Thanks guys for the help.

 

[wfex4]

Let me know how the retroculus like the gravel if you end up adding it. Im in the process of setting up a dedicated tank for mine and would prefer to get another opinion before mixing sand and gravel.

As for worrying about dead spots in the sand, I don't really have to worry about that with my redheads. They stir everything up pretty well. The retros on the other hand don't seem to sift as much. They usually attack the surface of the water as soon as I drop anything into the tank. Occasionally, they will dive bomb the sand if they see something interesting, but don't move too much dirt around otherwise.

 

[Unattended Fish]

Let me know how the retroculus like the gravel if you end up adding it. Im in the process of setting up a dedicated tank for mine and would prefer to get another opinion before mixing sand and gravel.

As for worrying about dead spots in the sand, I don't really have to worry about that with my redheads. They stir everything up pretty well. The retros on the other hand don't seem to sift as much. They usually attack the surface of the water as soon as I drop anything into the tank. Occasionally, they will dive bomb the sand if they see something interesting, but don't move too much dirt around otherwise.

Yup sure will, as I got 5 laps and one xingunesis (looking for more) and they will be with a group of proximus too. My laps don't really go to the surface but, seem to sift the more aggressively when I feed them.