Does Special Grade Reef sand have to be vacuumed?

[rz1a]

I want to make the switch over to the CaribSea special grade reef sand but not if i have to constantly vacuum it. Does anyone know if i would have to? I want sand to be stable, with my vortechs the sand i currently have shifts around way too much

[Ping]

If your bio load is not too high, with your high flow, the sand bed should not need to be vacuumed. However many do vacuum as part of their maint schedule.

What size sand do you have now and how long has it been in your system.

Many high flow tanks consistantly have a few bare spots. These change as corals grow.

[CoryDude]

Depends on amount and water flow through tank.

I have about 1" of it covering my tank bottom. I do h2o changes every 2 weeks, and I vacuum the corners and front of the tank evey other h2o change. This hasn't impacted any microfauna populations since I'm only vacuuming about 20% of the total sand area.

No problems with my vortec. No blowing sand or anything like that. It's too coarse for that.

[Daniel]

If you are tired of sand shifting go bare bottom. I love not having to deal with sand at all. I put in a piece of white acrylic on the bottom to protect the glass on my tanks. It reflects great and looks good like Marlins tanks.

[ErikH]

If you have alot of detritus buildup, you will undoubtedly need to vacuum. Flow and a large cleanup crew are your weapons to fight that battle :)

[ballardjr2000]

i have the carbsea reefsand i don't vaccum it it's about 2 to 4 inches deep depending on the area in the tank i use a diamond goby he keeps the sand very clean as well as the hermits and snails i have

[rz1a]

I like having sand as opposed to bare bottom; BB doesnt look natural, and I like wrasses which also help me out by removing any harmful pests, so they need the sand.

Right now I have the sugar fine sand, it settled down a while back, but because SPS grew more, I decided to increase the flow and change the pattern on the Vortechs, so that caused the sand to shift in different areas.

How hard is it to replace the sandbed? If i do get the Special Grade, I think the Eheim Sludge extractor would be worth investing in

[rz1a]

Depends on amount and water flow through tank.

I have about 1" of it covering my tank bottom. I do h2o changes every 2 weeks, and I vacuum the corners and front of the tank evey other h2o change. This hasn't impacted any microfauna populations since I'm only vacuuming about 20% of the total sand area.

No problems with my vortec. No blowing sand or anything like that. It's too coarse for that.

Also would it be too coarse for sand dwelling inhabitants like wrasses?

[JimD]

"I like having sand as opposed to bare bottom; BB doesnt look natural, and I like wrasses which also help me out by removing any harmful pests, so they need the sand."

Dont be so quick to dog bare bottom appearance, once the system grows out and matures, they look as good or better than sand bottom tanks without the hassle and with additional area for coral. Im bare bottom and probably will never go back to sand in the main tank, by the way I also have a Mystery Wrasse who is happy and content, they dont 'need' sand to thrive... As for the vacuum question, if the intent of the sandbed is for filtration and buffering, then you really dont want to disturb it, most people use sand stirring critters like Nassarious snails and Fighting conches that will only burrow in the top inch or so causing minimum disturbance to the lower levels. Shallow sand beds on the other hand, have little filtering affect and can be stirred without harm..

[rz1a]

Thanks but I still wouldn't go BB, it's just not appealing to me. It's good that it works for other people but I still prefer the look of sand

What would you consider a shallow sandbed? I was thinking of adding 2 40lb bags of this sand which would put me at a 2 inch sandbed for my 75

[JimD]

One inch or less.

[sharkboy]

most display sand beds are mainly for aesthetics since they are probably less than 5-6" deep...a lot of people incorporate deep sand beds in refugiums to help with nitrification

[DSAfanatic]

I don't have any sand in mine either, but I'm thinking about adding some. I am constantly having issues with my PH. I can not seem to get my calcium reactor dialed in correctly and my PH is always at 7.8.

[DSAfanatic]

Will it be an issue if I had sand to an already established tank?

[Daniel]

I don't have any sand in mine either, but I'm thinking about adding some. I am constantly having issues with my PH. I can not seem to get my calcium reactor dialed in correctly and my PH is always at 7.8.

Have you tried a daily regiment of 2 part? I have no problems with my ph and I have zero sand in display nor in my sump, but I do have alternating light schedules.

[rz1a]

What's your pH at night? To be honest I dont even bother with pH anymore.. I cant even remember when the last time i checked it was.. I was always worried about it when I first started out in this hobby though

I think as long as you maintain your alkalinity from 8-10 dkh you shouldnt focus too much on it.. only time id freak out was if I added too much kalkwasser. Adding sodium carbonate (?) will temporarily increase pH and raise alkalinity

Kalkwasser is used to maintain alkalinity, calcium, and also raises pH

[rz1a]

oh and before adding sand, find what grade of sand will be the best. there's many different sizes out there. you might want to see if youd have to wash out the sand before adding it as well and what would be the best way to add it if you wanted to go ahead with it

[JimD]

"Adding sodium carbonate (?) will temporarily increase pH and raise alkalinity"

Calcium Hydroxide (Kalkwasser), I think thats what you meant, correct?

[ballardjr2000]

baking soda will raise the PH i have done it and works great its cheap and works well

[CoryDude]

Not getting into the BB vs sand debate. Purely a matter of taste IMO.

Rz1a, I would bet this type of sand is a little too course for sand dwellers. I mainly went with it because I hated how the sugar sized sand would blow around with almost any amount of flow.