Gouramiguy17

How do you do this? Won't the sand get sucked up?

Kitsune

You do suck up a little bit of the sand but what you do it hover it 'above' the sand and just suck up the crud on top. You don't stick the vacuum down into the sand to clean it. Crud doesn't really get down into the sand the way it does with gravel because it packs so tightly. Only thing is to make sure to stir up the sand bed once in a while to keep gases from getting trapped and leaking out later.

Aldric

I clean my sand this way with my gravel vac. I wave the gravel vac over the sand which stirs the water slightly and "lifts" the fish poop makeing it easyer to for the vack to suck up then once ive cleaned the sand that way i turn off the vac and use it to stir up the sand and to move the sand around from where my bristlenose has been digging holes

CHoffman

I agree with both posters. All the crud stays on top so you just suck it all off the surface of the sand by hovering over it!!!..It takes some practice but it's really easy and I think you can keep a cleaner aquarium this way.

aquarist48

Good morning. Sounds like great advice to me from above posters. From what I've read it would be a big help if you cover your intake tubes with nylon hose that has never seen soap or even a sponge or floss to prevent the sand from being sucked into your filter while vacuuming. Just a thought
Ken