When you think of vacuuming the first picture that pops into your head is usually not one of a reef. Recently I have began to vacuum my shallow sand bed on a much more consistent basis,with every water change, and I have noticed some marked improvements in the health of my reef.

I am surprised at how much detritus(waste) I am able to siphon out of the sand bed. This waste was surly contributing to my bio load and causing PO4 to creep up. The sand I use, Caribsea Seaflor Special Grade, is a larger grain size(1.25–1.95 mm) than the normal sugar sized sand making it easier to vacuum. If you are setting up a new reef or are having issues with sand blowing around I highly recoomend the larger sized sand.

After vacuuming my sand bed twice this month I have noticed an increase in growth in my corals. Growth of film algae has also been cut back. It usually takes about a week for a slight film to develop on my viewing pane, but now it is taking almost two weeks.

Some will say "just go bare bottom", but I tried that and could never do it again. When I went BB in the old tank it looked horrible and I really had a hard time maintaining my Alkalinity and Ph. After 6 months I added the sand back and all was well once again.

Sand beds may require more work and maintenance but the look and rewards are well worth it. 

-Sonny






 


Comments

stunreefer

Fri, 24 Apr 2009 08:00:32

Good write-up Sonny... vaccuming ones sand bad is so vastly overlooked it hurts to think about. Anyone that's not running a DSB or BB should be siphoning their sand occasionally...

I also use a larger grain substrate, Tropic Edens "Reef Flakes" (3.5 mm). It stays put under high flow conditions, looks fantastic, and is very easy to vacuum.

 

thin crust

Fri, 24 Apr 2009 08:09:27

Great advice on the larger grain sand, definitely will try that out on my next tank.

 

Sonny

Fri, 24 Apr 2009 09:04:29

One thing I forgot to mention is that I add triple my normal bacteria dosage to make up for any loss in bacteria from siphoning.

Also, I use this http://www.petsmart.com/product/ind...oductId=2754084 to siphon out the waste into an empty salt bucket.

 

bill

Fri, 24 Apr 2009 09:26:35

Sonny

We often overlook vacuuming. Appreciate the tip and the reminder Would you recommend to triple the dosage of Bak after vacuuming??

 

Sonny

Fri, 24 Apr 2009 09:35:06

Bill

Yes, I dose the bacteria AFTER I am finished siphoning and changing the water.

 

SPSHolic

Sun, 26 Apr 2009 16:57:05

Dear Sonny

Great advice on the larger grain sand.
I used carib fiji pink sugar size sand and am changing 2~3mm sand slowly because of sand storm and unknown algae.

Vacuuming means You remove old sand and put new sand periodically or just remove detritus(waste)?

 

Sonny

Tue, 28 Apr 2009 05:09:24

SPSHolic,

When I vacuum the sand I am only removing the detritus and NOT the sand. I used to remove the sand from my old reef but found that to be too much work and not worth it.

 

h.veras

Thu, 30 Apr 2009 23:41:15

hey sonny great job.. could you post a video of you vacuum the sb? thx i really appreciate

 

Sonny

Fri, 01 May 2009 07:46:25

h.veras,

I will see if I can get a video camera over as I have yet to purchase one. Most new Digital cameras have built in video but my Nikon D50 SLR does not.

 

Marcus

Mon, 25 May 2009 07:36:06

Great advice Sonny. I just started my tank and I used the same substrate you used. My plan all along was to vacuum my sand bed for all the same reasons you have said.

Two questions: Using that vacuum do you have issues with it trying to pull up the sand as well?

Also is dosing bacteria required? I never would have even thought of that.

Thanks

Marcus

 

Juan

Fri, 29 May 2009 18:47:55

Hello Sunny i have problem whit Glacilaria alge on my live rock i like a red roots what can you tell me to do tanks.

 

David

Thu, 11 Jun 2009 10:15:30

hey sonny what bacteria do you dose?

 

Sonny

Thu, 11 Jun 2009 10:20:05

Hello,

I am using Microbacter7 by Brightwell's.

 

Daniel

Fri, 18 Sep 2009 18:13:49

Sonny, could you repost the siphon you use? The previous link does not work.

 



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