Proper Way To Clean Sand Substrate

my nitrate levels don't go down much when I vacuum. did a test today I think its 20 give or tank a few pp. when I do water changes I only skI'm the surface of the sand because it get sucked up so easily and honestly I don't really know how anythign gets under it. but I probably shoudl deep clean it because that's the only thing I haven't done that I know of. my question is: is there a way to deep clean my sand(plunging the vac into the sand) or other method so that I don't suck all of my sand into the bucket? I'm using a full Tahitian moon sand substrate. thank you

 

I'll tell you what, bottom dwellers. Lol I have corys ,rams, plecos, and SAEs. These guys kick up the sand a bit and all the poop, which gets sucked up by the filters.

I have white sand, so the poop is easy to see. I also run a chopstick through the sand once a month during a water change. It also helps that I'm heavily planted. After 2 years my tank still reads very low nitrates.

I also change 50% of my water minimum every week.

 

I use a rubber band to tie a chopstick to the siphon. I gently agitate the surface of the sand with the tip of the chopstick kicking up the dirt and debris for the siphon to do its job.

 

I only skI'm the surface of the sand too, never had an issue. If your nitrates aren't going down much during a water change (if its 20ppm before and you do 50% water change, it should now be 10ppm) then maybe you have nitrates in your tap, you aren't changing enough water at once or your tank is overstocked.

 

I'll tell you what, bottom dwellers. Lol I have corys ,rams, plecos, and SAEs. These guys kick up the sand a bit and all the poop, which gets sucked up by the filters.

I have white sand, so the poop is easy to see. I also run a chopstick through the sand once a month during a water change. It also helps that I'm heavily planted. After 2 years my tank still reads very low nitrates.

I also change 50% of my water minimum every week.

I've been wondering that myself... Do snails work that way too? I have a betta, so another fish would likely be a bad idea, especially with a 5 gallon tank.

 

I've been wondering that myself... Do snails work that way too? I have a betta, so another fish would likely be a bad idea, especially with a 5 gallon tank.

Snails will pick up the leftovers but they don't wip there tails on the bottom. Lol

 

I suggest stirring the sand during your water changes. You can get a stainless steel sand stirrer on amazon. 1 usually has a different size on each end.

 

I just put 5-10 pounds in a bucket. Stir. Pour out the water. Repeat.

I do this a few times until I see that the water is less cloudy.

 

I just skI'm the syphon across the sand but I've also got bn and corys plush a blood parrot and he enjoys sucking the sand up and blowing it back out which is really funny to watch! So my sand doesn't really get dirty but every time I do a water change I stick my 4 fingers in the sand and rake the sand with my fingers just to get rid of any gas pockets

 

I just put 5-10 pounds in a bucket. Stir. Pour out the water. Repeat.

I do this a few times until I see that the water is less cloudy.

OP is asking about after it's in the tank.

That is the correct procedure with new sand.

 

I have sand in part of my tank. I siphon right above it and my strong siphon sucks up pretty much all of the debris. When I do touch the siphon to the sand, I just squeeze some part of the hose which restricts the airflow and the sand falls back down.

 

I make gentle tornado motions to get the stuff up.