crushed coral

[psykokid]

the only real "vacuuming" you should do on sand is to remove cyano/red slime or something like that if you have that sort of problem.

[KYLE.801]

Definatly stay away from the FW habit of cleaning out the gravel really good when you clean the tank.  You usually dont want to mess around with your substrate in a SW tank. 

[OCtrackiepacsg1]

Thanks for the help. So how often do you guys vacuum the sand compared to WCs

[KYLE.801]

I have never vacuumed the sand.  I do 10% water changes every few weeks.  A lot of people say to do it bi-weekly, I've also seen a tank that looked amazing that only gets a water change every six months.  I probably wouldnt recommend that...  Every system is diff but you should start out doing a wc every 2-3 weeks. 

[psykokid]

I never vacuum my sand unless i have crap (ie algae or cyano) on it. I do 25-30% water changes about ever 3 weeks. I feed really heavily so i need to do a larger percentage to keep my nitrates down.

[Bergy]

the issue here is to NOT disturb the sand... if yo udo feel the need to vacuum it, then just suck up what is on top, and do not stir the sand bed...

[Just_Greg]

Definatly stay away from the FW habit of cleaning out the gravel really good when you clean the tank.  You usually dont want to mess around with your substrate in a SW tank. 

CC is the one exception to this.  the grain size is so large that detritus, uneaten food, etc. becomes trapped between them and decomposes, resulting in nitrate production.  you should use a gravel vac and work it into the CC, leaving it in place until there is no longer crap churning around in the tube, then move to another spot.  if your WC is done before you can do the whole thing, try to do half one WC and the other half the next time.

[OCtrackiepacsg1]

cool, I guess this is one branch where SW is easier than FW.

[Bergy]

this 'one branch' is everything


when you figure out that yo udont have a filter to maintain, and that all you have to do is make sure things dont change then you will understand how easy it is...

and as simplified as i made that sound, it is true... if you can keep your evaporation / top off  under control, and do weekly/biweekly water changes, then your tank will be awesome....

clean the glass a couple times a week, and you are golden...

I cant imagine vacuuming the sand/bottom routinely... i certainly dont miss draggin my cannister tothe sink and tearing it apart and putting it all backtogether again... and buyng sponge/filter pads all the time....

[OCtrackiepacsg1]

Hey Puffers, your gonna be a SW tank now meaning no weekly hour long water changes! lol. maybe.