25g Mid-Week Detritus Export Video

[Beverly]

LOL, Rich!

Marko, besides a few corals that don't get fed, are stomatella snails (lots now, after the spawning event a few months ago), pods and a few small brittle stars - which would all qualify as a clean up crew, wouldn't you say? Man, they leave a mess! I get about this much crud when I do weekly maintanance, too.

Don't you all wonder what's accumulating in your sandbeds?!

[Seriak]

Hey Bev,

Do you rinse in the bucket because you want to use only tank or RO water. I never really went that far when rinsing sponges, but maybe I should have. Would you do the same for socks?

And second thought, maybe you just did it for our benefit to see how dirty they are. Sorry blonde moment

[Beverly]

I use tank water in the bucket to rinse the foams to preserve the nitrfying bacteria in the foams. RO or tapwater would kill the bacteria. I don't use socks, but would probably use the same method for rinsing. I've read that some people have a bunch of socks that they rotate daily and wash, which might be better than simply rinsing them.

[MarkoD]

I have over 200 hermit crabs. Sand and rocks are nice and clean looking.

[Beverly]

To Marko and anyone else who'd like to do an experiment :

Could you please take a cup or so of sand from your sandbed (or sump), preferably near or under your rock, put it in a jar with some tankwater and shake it? Post photos of what the jar and your sandbed looks like during this process. I'm guessing the jar water will turn a shade of brown, but that's only a guess.

Looking forward to seeing a whole whack of photos!

[MarkoD]

Originally Posted by Beverly

To Marko and anyone else who'd like to do an experiment :

Could you please take a cup or so of sand from your sandbed (or sump), preferably near or under your rock, put it in a jar with some tankwater and shake it? Post photos of what the jar and your sandbed looks like during this process. I'm guessing the jar water will turn a shade of brown, but that's only a guess.

Looking forward to seeing a whole whack of photos!

I only have an inch of sand bed. But why does it even matter? There's so many successful reef tanks with sand.

My only concern is that it looks clean

[RuGlu6]

Originally Posted by MarkoD

I only have an inch of sand bed. But why does it even matter? There's so many successful reef tanks with sand.

My only concern is that it looks clean

You are correct it only looks clean.
I always end up replacing or getting rid of the sand because it gets full of detritus. No meter how much i like the sand if i don't get rid of it in a year or so it always get foul. I never put more then an inch also, And i have about 100x+ water flow in my display tank without counting a return pump flow.