Tropical Fish Keeping - Aquarium fish care and resources - How do you clean a sand substrate tank?

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How do you clean a sand substrate tank?

Do you use a regular gravel vac or something else? My tank DESPERATELY needs cleaning but I have no idea how to with the sand.

Quote:

Originally Posted by WashingtonCowgirl (Post 683153)

Do you use a regular gravel vac or something else? My tank DESPERATELY needs cleaning but I have no idea how to with the sand.

In my tanks that I have sand in. I use a regular gravel vacuum but I take off the end part that is bigger then hose and I just use the hose to go over the parts of the sand that I can get to. LoL but if you leave the big part on it should work okay too. Just barely go over the surface or you will siphon up a bunch of sand. Hope this helps some.

hover the vacuum hose just above the sand, and it will suck up all the loose debris. you won't want to dig deep, cuz you'll end up sucking the sand through the hose.