I was running 0 nitrates when on a water change I stirred up a mess apparently, I vacuumed some sand and stirred it up a little now I have had steady nitrates around 10 and maybe between 20. Is it best to leave the bed alone or will poop etc. start making it rise (5 small fish in a 50g) I also believe I might be over feeding.
vacuum sand bed or not, that is the question
- Thread starter dschertz
- Start date
fastrd400
It wasn't me!
If you normally don't vacuum the sand bed, then don't. If you have a habit of vacuuming the sandbed every 2 weeks with a water change, things will be fine.
Northstar24
The Tang Herder
I have sand sifters in my tank, but with each water change I usually take a smal section of sand and give it a good stir
Smitty
Reef pro
It's overall best to not disturb the sand...leave that job to your cuc.
sen5241b
Reef enthusiast
I've made the same mistake. If there is a lot of detritus in your sand bed and you want to get rid of, then try stirring only very small sections once every few days. If there is hydrogen sulfide in your sand bed and you release it, it could kill everything but only really old sand beds with tons of detritus will result in hydrogen sulfide. Also, good flow and floss will keep dead stuff from settling into the sand to begin with.
Sand stirrers will not deep stir your sand bed. I keep mine stirred by hand.
d2mini
Reef enthusiast
I don't touch it. Ever. I don't even like hitting it with my magnet when cleaning the base of the glass.
Northstar24
The Tang Herder
You're stirring up the sand, releasing nitrates
Smitty
Reef pro
Yep, you keep releasing them...try leaving the sand alone for awhile, while doing water changes.
Reef Nutz
Reefing newb
+1. Try to just leave it alone. Thats what your flow if for. So that you don't have any dead spots that accumulate garbage. All the critter in the sand bed will get the rest for you.
Sir Alex
Dragon the eel (below)
Recently I tested my nitrates and they were a bit over 20 so I did a water change and vacuumed the san. I tested them again afterwards. They were 40!
BL1
.............
Yep and it'll keep happening when you mess with the sand bed, make sure to read the previous posts.
Reef Nutz
Reefing newb
LOL. Your killin me Smalls, killin me, I tell ya.:mrgreen:
Bifferwine
I am a girl
LOL. Stop messing with the sand! :D
Dana42078
Dana
I have no choice in my mantis tank. I vaccume the top layer every water change because of the cyno, dead body parts ect....i really havent ever tested it because nothing has gone wrong. My mantis is healthy, my softies are growing.....i guess like a previous post said if u been doing it from day 1 its okay to mess with the upper prtion but if not id leave it alone......
well mine isn't getting any better, 3 water changes in less than 3 weeks maybe like 2 weeks and 2 days( 5g, 10g,10g), added purigen on saturday and just did another change today and still at 40, wtf. I am getting stressed:frustrat: also had the lfs test water with same results.
Dana42078
Dana
For sure could be. If your not changing the filters the day they need changing it's basically a nitrate trap....alot of ppl don't use bio wheels because of this reason alone. I've been lucky enough to never have issues. Still want to switch to a skimmer eventually
