Misinformation

[reefkeeper55]

I have never seen a hobby that has such totally different opinions on supposedly aquarium basics...I had 2 LFS' s tell me that I should NEVER disturb the substrate when I do water changes on my 150 reef tank, anothe LFS said to deep gravel wash every other time and lightly clean it on the other change....the ones that said not to touch it also said that was where my nitrates were coming from.....also that I should remove the sock that I put in place and put my rubble rock back in the sump that I have had there for YEARS, so what gives? I think you're better off to do what works for you....so I thought I would ask what ya"ll think.....gravel wash or leave it the hell alone?

 

[d2mini]

Leave it alone. I don't touch my substrate. Ever. You should have critters in your tank like starfish, nassarius snails, maybe a diamond goby... lots of ways to keep the sand stirred but without really disturbing it and releasing toxic elements into your water, which is what will happen if you go in there and start stirring stuff up. And if you constantly vacuum it, you won't get the benefits of having a live sand bed.

 

[wontonflip]

I rarely touch the substrate. Stirring up the substrate A LOT would cause all the debris stuck in there to start an ammonia spike. Most of us use critters to stir the sandbed -- sand sifting gobies, nessarius, or star fish to name a few. Some do clean the sandbed, but only small portions at a time, so even if there debris in there, it won't be enough to cause major problems.

 

[SeaBee]

i'm guilty of cleaning only the edge along the glass, so it looks clean, but otherwise I leave it alone. I have about 25 snails in the sandbed, and the powerheads keep the stuff moving along the surface of the sandbed.

 

[sen5241b]

Here's why they are telling you conflicting things:

There has never been any perfect way to keep the substrate clean of detritus. Your sock, strong flow, sand stirrers (snails, crabs, etc.) and other methods can help keep it clean though.

IF your substrate has a lot of detritus built up in it over time then --yes-- disturbing it could release toxins that start an ammonia/nitrate spike that kills your entire tank. Really old sand beds can develop deposits of hydrogen sulfide gas and if released it will kill your whole tank very fast.

I have stirred my sand bed by hand, one small section at a time every few days until the entire sand bed is stirred. I repeat this stirring every 2 or 3 months. This seems to have helped it from getting real bad but again there is no perfect way to keep a sand bed from eventually becoming a detritus trap. Some people break down their tank every few years and put in a new substrate.

 

[sen5241b]

One other thing: critters will not deep stir your sand bed. Nassarius snails do not burron very deep and most other so called sand stirrers only move the surface sand around. My Midas Blenny stirred the sand more than any crab, snail or starfish every did but he also made of mess of my tank.

 

[reefkeeper55]

thanks for all of the info....one other thing...do any of you guys use a Vortech? The ones I have seen in LFS display tanks look wonderful, although they are expensive as hell....thinking about one to replace several of my powerheads..also which one should I need for a 150? My LFS guy said 2 60's facing each other would be great but he also is the one selling them, so I didn't know if one might be enough since they're about 500 bucks each...

 

[Northstar24]

I generally leave the sandbed alone as well. Once every few weeks I'll use my flat blade algade scraper and rake the sand to make it look nice (the flow tends to move it around a bit) - especially if I'm showing the tank to someone that hasnt seen it before

I'm looking into the Vortech's as well. I'd like to think I can get away with 2 MP40's for my 180, I'm still researching

 

[sen5241b]

$500!?? Sounds way to pricey to me.

 

[d2mini]

I have two MP40w Vortechs and their backup battery.

 

[AmberSunrise]

The very first creature I got was my diamond goby because I didnt want gross substrate sand.

I have had my tank up for 5 months and its still as pristine as it was on day one because he keeps it stirred up really well.

I have seen people who got their goby way after the set up and he just ended up making it all nasty as he started to stir it up so I would recommend getting it up front to prevent build up.

I wouldnt mess with it at this point just get snails and starfish like mentioned above.

 

[parrotchute]

If you have strong waterflow it can substantially reduce the risk of hydrogen sulfide build-ups.

 

[fastrd400]

I vacuum my sand with every water change (which is every 2 weeks). I've been doing it since the tank was new and have not had any issues what so ever.

 

[BL1]

I think 2 mp40s in your tank will be fine. The only thing I don't like about the vortechs is that they aren't directional but they do have a much wider flow pattern then other powerheads.

I just got a fighting conch snail 2 or 3 weeks ago and this guy is great he's constantly moving around my sand bed cleaning it. And when he burrows in he goes all the way to the bottom stirring the whole thing.

 

[2010CamaroGirl]

I got the vortech mp40 wireless and love it!!!! Got a bargain off of ebay! Going to look for the battery back up and two more units one on the opposite side that will sync up with the one I currently have and then another one on the back glass for some cross directional flow. I turned it up all the way when the tank was just empty with rocks and holy moly that thing has some power!!! Right now it's on super low but I need some more flow in my tank. I do not regret buying it at all and have had no problems with it and the set up was simple!! I would suggest getting extra foam pads that go around the blades as they tend to get dirty quickly if you decide to get one!!

 

[Wes888]

thanks for all of the info....one other thing...do any of you guys use a Vortech? The ones I have seen in LFS display tanks look wonderful, although they are expensive as hell....thinking about one to replace several of my powerheads..also which one should I need for a 150? My LFS guy said 2 60's facing each other would be great but he also is the one selling them, so I didn't know if one might be enough since they're about 500 bucks each...

I had 2 MP40s on both end at first, but it's barely enough for my 125. I later added a MP10 in the middle and it's all covered now. I think for yours, it's better to have 2 MP40s at 1 end and 1 MP40 at the other end. I believe the MP60s are for 300+ gallon tanks.