Cleaning sand

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Bluewatertexas

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
May 23, 2012
186
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Sydney
Hey guys just wondering how everyone cleans there sand? I can get some lighter stuff holding the siphon vacuum thing just above the sand but if I go any closer to get the big heavy crap I end up sucking up the sand as well.
Any tips much appreciated TIA


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i just hover over the sand ... it depends on how much suction you're pulling ~ what i have are 2 5 gal bucket's and vac for poop first ..
 
I stick the end of the siphon tube INTO the sand. Just before it gets to the hose and starts going out the door, I pick up the tube and the sand all falls out in a pile. I do this at random all over the tank everytime I vacuum. After I've passed over the top of the sand and gotten all the trash off the top of the sand.
 
The smaller the hose you use, the less suction. I use a larger siphon for changing water and a smaller one for vacuuming the sand. The sand does get stirred while sucking it, but it doesn't make it up to the hose/tube part. Sometimes there are a few granules in the bucket after, but not much. I dump the water outside and not down a drain, just in case there's more sand then I'm seeing.
 
Thanks guys. I didn't actually stick it into the sand because I figured I'd just pick up more than if I was hovering over it. I might try running it into a bucket and then just returning any sand I get in bucket when I'm done? Any other way other than Syphon?


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Yeah, I straight up dip the siphon into the sand to stir the surface sand up a little too, after vacuuming as much as I can off the surface of the sand. I guess you could also just stir things up then let the filter mechanical sponge get some of what's stirred up, and then wash the sponge. I don't know any other way than what I do now.
 
The only alternatives to a siphon vac I can think of is maybe a modified canister or pump, but if you suck in any sand it might damage the motor.

I just use a python with a longer tube that I borrowed from an old gravel vac. The extra height makes it easier to keep an eye on the sand, so I can let it get almost 3/4 full before sand starts going down the hose. Cleaning the sand in my 240 literally takes me about an hour but I do it the same way as ragin cajun and cookie - hover over the top to get the debris, then stick the vac in the sand to get any dissolved particles. Then I stir it all up and siphon the top layer one last time to get anything leftover
 
I do a mix of things, I hover my siphon above the sand to get the poop just on top, I sick the siphon straight in the sand and when out begins to get close to the hose I turn the siphon on an angle and it falls out, when it's really dirty I suck some of the sand directly out and into the bucket (when I use one) pour the dirty water out slowly without losing the collected sand in the bucket, then just pour the clean sand back into the tank (all filters off) and lastly, again with filters off I stir up the sand, let it fall and turn the filters back on, be careful no sand is still suspended when turning the filters back on, otherwise you can seize the impeller

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I put my vac into the sand and pinch the hose so it sort of rolls the sand in the vac tube and sucks poop and whatever is stuck in the sand. When it get close to the hose I Pinch it all the way and the sand drops.


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