The Puffer Forum

When I do water changes in a marine tank, should I be hoovering the sand/gravel or do I leave well alone?

If I were you I wouldn't do both water changes and tank cleaning on the same day. You don't want to eliminate too much of your tanks beneficial bacteria.

Neither changing water not stirring sand remove beneficial bacteria. I do them together.

For SW tanks, if you have LR then there are beneficial critters in your sand you don't want to disturb/remove. I have a black cucumber who does all my sand's vacuuming.

Pufferpunk wrote:For SW tanks, if you have LR then there are beneficial critters in your sand you don't want to disturb/remove. I have a black cucumber who does all my sand's vacuuming.

I tend to just skim the surface as I take water out. I will look into getting a cucumber - but I want to make sure the tank is settled & balanced first before adding anything else.

Pufferpunk wrote:For SW tanks, if you have LR then there are beneficial critters in your sand you don't want to disturb/remove. I have a black cucumber who does all my sand's vacuuming.

I have a question then. I will be going full salt soon. Would a Sea Cucumber be safe with a GSP?

Pufferpunk wrote:For SW tanks, if you have LR then there are beneficial critters in your sand you don't want to disturb/remove. I have a black cucumber who does all my sand's vacuuming.

PP can you post a pic of your ''black cucumber'' I might get one to clean my sand to

http://www.scuba-equipment-usa.com/mari ... a_atra.jpg
I don't see why a GSP would bother one.

I must have been misinformed, my apologies!

bigfatfish wrote:When I do water changes in a marine tank, should I be hoovering the sand/gravel or do I leave well alone?

Leave the sand alone and see if you can sneak some nassarius and dwarf ceriths in there. they may stay under the stand long enough for the GSP not to get to them.

Get yourself a Blue Cheak Goby, they sift the sand and eat any leftovers (mysis etc). Before I got one I was getting red and green hair algea growning from the sand, now the algea doesn't have long enough to grow as the Goby keeps turning the sand over.

I thought when cucumbers died they would nuke the tank? Maybe it's just certin type of cucumber.

Sea Apples