I have 1-2 inch pool filter sand bed in my freshwater tank. So I was wondering if the leftover food and poo gets broken down anyway, do I really need to vacuum the sand bed? Wouldn't water changes be sufficient in removing nitrates w/o vacuuming the sand?
Is it necessary to vacuum sand in freshwater tanks?
- Thread starter The_Don
- Start date
I do gravel vacs because it removes the detritis from the substrate ... I hate that stuff besides it makes the overall look of the tank cleaner then just doing a normal w/c
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Well, the items you see could be waste or leftover food. They both add to the bio load of the tank and unless you have fish that will consume them, you are leaving them in the tank. Water changes will eventually remove the items after they degrade, but the question is why wait?
Removing them could 1) reduce the overall waste in the tank 2) allow you to wait longer to do a WC or 3) let you change less water when you do a WC. All good things!
And of course it looks lots better and re-affirms the smart choice to get pool filter sand in the first place.
Removing them could 1) reduce the overall waste in the tank 2) allow you to wait longer to do a WC or 3) let you change less water when you do a WC. All good things!
And of course it looks lots better and re-affirms the smart choice to get pool filter sand in the first place.
I completely agree with that part. It really gets on my nerves to see so much poop laying around. But I was more asking out of curiosity of whether or not this method of doing things would increase the rate of nitrate build up a lot faster.
Well, the items you see could be waste or leftover food. They both add to the bio load of the tank and unless you have fish that will consume them, you are leaving them in the tank. Water changes will eventually remove the items after they degrade, but the question is why wait?
Removing them could 1) reduce the overall waste in the tank 2) allow you to wait longer to do a WC or 3) let you change less water when you do a WC. All good things!
And of course it looks lots better and re-affirms the smart choice to get pool filter sand in the first place.
Yeah that's true definitely not worth the wait to see all the waste in my tank. Also yeah just realized that, yes, it will lead to smaller water changes, so that's definitely a plus!
Thanks!
I dont really gravel vac my sand..more so i run the suction over the sand about an inch to pick up anything on it..I never really disturb it..to many plants.
Yeah I do the same too, just never thought it was necessary to go all the way in the sand though.
I have sand in all my tanks....I bought the eheim battery powered vac....actually works great for spot vacc'ing crap on top of the sand and has a nice long reach