to siphon the gravel bed.

[Chad]

Originally Posted by DEAD_BY_DAWN

the problem is everytime i do ,a few hours later i have a diatom bloom,which does go away after a few days ,but in that time looks ugly on the sand,is it possible to not siphon the gravel and just do a water change without disturbing the sand bed letting the crabs etc do this thanks.

if you siphon the sand bed you basicly lose what it is there for. I do not siphon my sandbed. Well, I am slowly removing my sandbed.. but that is a different story. When you siphon your sandbed you are also taking out little critters that are helping your tank break down waste etc.