[Austin]

How does one keep sand clean?! I'm finding it extremely difficult. There's poop all over and it's very unsightly. I vacuum it every week the best I can but some of my plants are fairly dense and I can't reach the poo around their base without irritating them too much. Every time my pleco or Siamese algae eater swims near the bottom they kick up poo... I have eheim 2217 canister filter on my 75 gallon. Same filter I had on my 50g. It seems to keep one side clean but blows all the debris to the other side where it collects. And since I've gotten sand I've noticed my water has more particles floating around than when I had gravel.

It's amazing how much waste they produce... It's nice to be able to siphon a lot out without vacuuming, And it's weird to know how much used to settle into the gravel, but it was more sightly.

 

[Sylverclaws]

Yesss, I've had a similar obnoxious problem with one of my sand tanks, I think it's all about the sand type, dunno.
What I do is I take a turkey baster and can get into, under and around the plants with it, can also get the more stubborn dirt my vacuum likes to blast out like substrate instead of suck up. It's annoying work, but it's become a bit of a routine for me.

 

[RSVBiffer]

I have a long acrylic pipe attached to airline which I use as a syphon in one tank. Because it is thin it gets to the base of the plants easily. Bizarrely in the second tank it doesn't seem to be a issue, the Corys must stir the sand enough and the filter intake is very low down. As for the third, be interesting to see what happens.

 

[Austin]

Thanks! those are all great suggestions. The turkey baster sounds good, but do you constantly have to empty it? I have a lot of area in my tank.

I like the pipe idea... I wonder if I remove the vacuum and just have the tube, it will probably be thin enough to fit into the nicks and crannies. Someone should invent a long thin vacuum attachment that is similar to a real vacuum to reach into tight places.

Is it bad for fish that dwell on the bottom?

 

[Sylverclaws]

Well, my tank that has an issue is a ten gallon, so it's not that much work. But what I do is take a bucket, cup or pitcher and suck the junk up with the baster and dump it into my whatever I'm using that day. lol
It takes less water than a vacuum and doesn't disturb anything, the substrate you suck in usually falls out like an hourglass so you don't have to fight with it or shoot filth all over by squeezing it out, and you can get into the tighter areas, like the center area of thick plants(just be careful, some you can just let it go and suck real hard, others you have to be slow with so you don't break the stems or rip leaves). However, on the plus side, most of the junk goes to the front and front corner areas, so it's pretty easy to do. Just take out a bit a day or so, don't even take enough to need to add more in usually, except on cleaning day which is intentional.

If nothing else, it IS useful to use around plants and the corners with less chance of damage. =)

 

[jaysee]

I run 2 canisters on my 4+ foot tanks - I never vacuum the sand and it's rare I ever see waste. Works well for me, and since your problem is that the non filter side is dirty I think adding a filter to that side will make it look like the clean side. Too, do you have trumpet snails? They eat fish waste.

 

[Sylverclaws]

Eh, actually they don't eat fish waste. Not really, they may nibble on some that has a lot of not digested food in it, but they're not filth eaters. In fact they just make more waste. I have trumpet snails in my tank, and not only know the myth, but have witnessed how they flee from the evil string of poo that occasionally lands on them to find...greener pastures. xD

Uhh, some shrimp will do the same occasional nibble, but there's actually very few critters out there that will eat waste. You'll just add more biolaod and waste to the tank trying to get things that will clean it for you. .-. I WISH they would, wouldn't that be a lovely bonus?

 

[jaysee]

I've seen them do it - they're in my tanks as well. It's not a myth. Waste is by no means devoid of nutrients, just as the air you exhale is not devoid of oxygen.

 

[Agent13]

I don't think the a 2217 is enough for a 75g. I'd vote for getting a 2nd one in there. With a single one you're only running your tanks volume 3 and a half times an hour. My 75g I've set up to run 12x an hour with 2 filters . I wouldn't want it to be less then 5x


Sent from Petguide.com App

 

[jaysee]

http://www.planetinverts.com/malaysian_trumpet_snail.html

Detritus = fish poop

 

[Sylverclaws]

Let me rephrase, I didn't mean to be confrontational and I know the "Usually's" and such aren't always correct for the entire species of something...But like I said, many will eat off it if it's got a lot of undigested matter in it. I've seen them do that after feeding my fish something all veggie-matter, but most they wont touch. I have a big colony in my nursery tank, they never touch the poo except on veggie days, and that's just sometimes. =/

 

[jaysee]

http://www.tfhmagazine.com/freshwater/feature-articles/taming-the-tenacious-trumpet-snail.htm

Many reputable sources agree that they do eat waste, which is consistent with my own and many others experience. I wish your snails ate waste for you too ;-)


Regardless, more filtration is required IMO and E.

 

[Sylverclaws]

I wish your snails ate waste for you too ;-)

That made me laugh. Yes, it would be handy if they did, especially the ones in my nurseries. Baby fish tend to need more feedings than adults, and so are poopin machines. =p I'm forever sucking out little poo strands with the turkey baster. Well, at least once or twice a day, it seems to like one front side corner of my tank, so that at least makes it easy.

 

[jaysee]

Good cause I meant it to be funny perhaps there's enough leftover food from the fish to sustain them so they don't have to eat waste. There are certainly foods I prefer over others