After many many articles and videos about starting reef tanks I finally jumped in. Well made a huge mistake in not washing my sand from the used tank. I was so worried about my bacteria and losing coral and fish by cleaning to much I moved it with nothing more than 50% water change. Well no surprise my po4 are constantly above one. Can I clean the sand now by vac? If I vac sand every week do I acctualy have a shot at getting as clean as if I washed it out with a hose?can you over vac?
Sand cleaning
- Thread starter Sparky88
- Start date
Slombardi
Well-Known Member
I don't think you can over vac and it is something you will always have to clean as part of your maintenance. Gunk will always settle. However it also has a lot of benefits and can help keep your levels in check with all the beneficial bacteria it contains. I have used sand from an established tank to seed a new tank before and never rinsed it.
I think most people rinse new sand to keep their tank from getting cloudy at first. I would keep with water changes and look for another source of the PO4. Maybe use some gfo.
I think most people rinse new sand to keep their tank from getting cloudy at first. I would keep with water changes and look for another source of the PO4. Maybe use some gfo.
I feed very speringly. Use double di cartriges that are brand new. When I got it the mainance had been lacking for awhile. I hurd that rocks can soak up po4 and then release it into the water once the water is cleaner. I choose phosguard as my po4 remover cause it was cheaper. Even with two cups in my reactor for three weeks its still high. I tend to lean towards the rocks because everything else came into line with daily maintance. As you can see my skimmer is cleaner than most i see. I broke down and used some lanthinum so I guess if it goes back up it must be something in my reefing
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Cpage101
Current BRS Vice President
If you you used used rock this could be the source defiantly. I used previously owned rock once and only once. I re-cooked it in a barrel with heat and circulation as through research I found this was recommended for old rock. It took 6 months to leach PO4 out to where the levels were low enough for me to use it. time and lots of water changes to export the excessive PO4. This is just my hypothesis if the rock you used is all old. Sand also could be leaching but you can stir vacuum small areas weekly.
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serwobow
Well-Known Member
I don't think it is possible to over-vac, but I also dont think vacuuming sand is all that necessary. Yes, it becomes dirty, but why this is so bad I don't know. I think you can just keep on doing phosguard, and replacing frequently, until levels drop to your desired levels. Then stop using it, or use less. 1ppm phosphate works well for some reef tanks, so maybe your tank is fine as it is.
