How to clean Sand substrate
- Thread starter tlfphoto
- Start date
I have a tank with the same substrate. Here's what I've noticed:
Lots of filtration helps. The only downside, if you have a lot, over the course of a week or so, you can see where the current begins to move the sand.
Algae-eating shrimp really work wonders. They will sift through the sand and keep it free of debris.
Malaysian Trumpet snails seem to help. They will definitely help in keeping the soil from compacting too much (which will happen). The only downside, you will need loaches to keep them in check. Another downside to this is that they kick up a lot of dirt while digging (the loaches will) and it will clog your filter faster. I would use a prefilter on the intake strainer (filter floss will work).
You can also lightly suction the sand with your gravel cleaner. The "dust" of the sand will go away after a couple weeks, and the heavier sand will stay on the bottom fairly well, so you won't pick up so much sand when you clean. Keep the gravel cleaner about 1 cm off the top.
Other notes: Do not keep a pleco, as they kick up too much dirt. Keep the bottom dwellers to a bare minimum, say a pair of loaches for snail control. No cories. Also, a ground cover type plant will work great too. Look into echinodorus tennelus (micro), dwarf chain swords, glosso, or lilaeopsis. If you choose to plant a sword plant or any heavy-rooted plants, be forewarned you will destroy the substrate when you decide to remove them, and it makes a hell of a mess. Other than that, I really like the soil/sand substrates!
Lots of filtration helps. The only downside, if you have a lot, over the course of a week or so, you can see where the current begins to move the sand.
Algae-eating shrimp really work wonders. They will sift through the sand and keep it free of debris.
Malaysian Trumpet snails seem to help. They will definitely help in keeping the soil from compacting too much (which will happen). The only downside, you will need loaches to keep them in check. Another downside to this is that they kick up a lot of dirt while digging (the loaches will) and it will clog your filter faster. I would use a prefilter on the intake strainer (filter floss will work).
You can also lightly suction the sand with your gravel cleaner. The "dust" of the sand will go away after a couple weeks, and the heavier sand will stay on the bottom fairly well, so you won't pick up so much sand when you clean. Keep the gravel cleaner about 1 cm off the top.
Other notes: Do not keep a pleco, as they kick up too much dirt. Keep the bottom dwellers to a bare minimum, say a pair of loaches for snail control. No cories. Also, a ground cover type plant will work great too. Look into echinodorus tennelus (micro), dwarf chain swords, glosso, or lilaeopsis. If you choose to plant a sword plant or any heavy-rooted plants, be forewarned you will destroy the substrate when you decide to remove them, and it makes a hell of a mess. Other than that, I really like the soil/sand substrates!
Get some clear flexible hosing from Home Depot or hardware store. About 4-5' is good. Depending on the size of the tank and how fast you want the suction, 3/8" to 1/2" to 5/8" ALL WORK. for my smaller tanks I use the smaller diameter hose, the bigger tanks get the larger diameter hose.
Just start the siphon and hover the end over the sand. The poo and detritis will get sucked up, the sand will remain.
Just start the siphon and hover the end over the sand. The poo and detritis will get sucked up, the sand will remain.