Vacuuming a sand bed or not That is my question

[Aquattro]

The only critters I found were 6 nassarius snails. I think maybe there are fewer critters than we believe in there

[gregzz4]

Goes to show what I know, and what I do for maintenance
Guess I'm outta the norm here as I just read this;

Originally Posted by Myka

I use a gravel vacuum and vacuum all the sand to its full depth on all waterchanges. The sand is only 1/2" deep.

If your sand is more than 1/2" deep and you do not regularly vacuum it you do risk exposing black anaerobic areas and releasing hydrogen sulphide. So if you haven't vacuumed, but you want to, you have to start slowly by only going through the top 1/2" of the sand, and continually going a bit deeper on each waterchange. I've had tanks with up to 6" sand beds that I vacuumed to their full depth, but it was done regularly and no anaerobic areas were allowed to form.

[Kraken]

haha, I think this is a good discussion considering it has always been a big debate about whether they should have a sand bed or not.

Greg, I do not think 6 months is long enough for a sandbed to really "fill up". This is just my oppinion but I had no issues in my sandbed (around 1.5 inchs) for a year and a half. It is only lately that I started having issues.

MJ - The dryrock I used is the same as what has been in the tank when I started. I could take a piece of rock out and some sand, put them both in RO water and test the water to test if there is any level increase. Hmm..might be worth doing =P, and perhaps everyone else who can
participate can do so too and we can pool in our results =D.

[kien]

[gregzz4]

Originally Posted by Kraken

Greg, I do not think 6 months is long enough for a sandbed to really "fill up". This is just my oppinion but I had no issues in my sandbed (around 1.5 inchs) for a year and a half. It is only lately that I started having issues.

What issues have you had ?

[Kraken]

Originally Posted by gregzz4

What issues have you had ?

Red slime

[gregzz4]

I had Cyano issues recently, but I'm currently cured ...

[Reefer Rob]

If your tank is doing well and you like the look of sand why change what you're doing? Unfortunately, not all tanks can handle the extra nutrients of an un-maintained sand bed.

My tanks have been bare bottom for the past 6 or 7 years. I like the look, and I don't miss dealing with sand and the crud it collects. But of course this is just my preference.