"vacuuming" while doing a water change

[jb61264]

I plan to do a 10-15% water change as soon as my tank finishes its first cycle...when I do the water change, I want to make sure to "vacuum" my sand as good as possible of any material that may have come off the live rock.

Is there a special vacuum hose that is better than regular wide diameter ones that I used for my freshwater? I'm thinking that it might almost be easier to suck of any debris laying on the top of the sand just using the hose without the larger diameter portion for cleaning...how does everyone go about doing this chore?

 

[reeffreak]

I blow the rocks with a turkey baster and on rare occasions use a powerhead to blow around behind the rocks.Get the debris into suspension then do the water change.I don't necessarily vacuum the substrate,its to fine and just gets sucked out,even with a screen covering.

 

[jb61264]

I'm glad to hear about the "turkey baster"...I bought one a couple days ago and 2-3 times a day I gently "baste" my live rock...it has helped get things into suspension and out through the overflow a lot...I know I have the water flow in the tank down pretty good because it clears up in a hurry whenever I do this.

 

[Doc]

if you do vacuum your sand, only go down about a half inch. take up a bit and shake it out of the vacuum canister. You don't want to regularly mix up the sand as it can release toxins into your water and start a mini-cycle. water changes are different in salt water tanks as opposed to freshwater where you need to vacuum your substrate regularly

-Doc

 

[Altohombre]

anyone know if the Python vac has a screen on it. I bought one but haven't used it yet. My cycle isn't over.