Should you replace part of the sandbed gradually

[oro50]

My tank as of tomorrow is 1/2 year old.
I'm wondering when it turns 1 year, should I start gradually replacing the sandbed, as I've noticed even with six months passed since I started my saltwater 20 gallon tank, that not only has the sandbed seemed to have gotten dirtier, but there are now like little tiny white things on it?

I'm not sure if these things came from the live rock I bought for the tank?

Anyway I thought by gradually replacing the sandbed, I would be doing two tasks at once.
The first is that I would be replacing (gradually) old sand with new fresh live sand, at the same time I would be doing this very gradually; (meaning I would replace portions of the bed every 3 months), so that most of the old sandbed would get even older, possibly growing even more benefical bacteria in it, so that by the time my entire old sandbed was replaced, enough time would have passed so that new strains of nitrasoma and nitrabacter bacteria strains would have established themselves?

I've tried to research this question online from various forums and other sources, and it seems to me that people are very divided about their answers to this question, so I'm wondering what you guys think about this.
Thank you

 

[rookie07]

How deep is your sandbed, out of curiosity?

Do not change sand. Your sand is live sand (plus)! Your sand is slowly building up bacteria/etc that is beneficial for your tank. Sand gets dirty, no way around it. You could syphon clean part if your sand bed once in a while, but aside from that don't do anything.

You could go sandless, aka bare bottom but that requires the proper setup for it (I'm referring to your live rock) and some research/planning.

Leave your sand alone, is the point of what I'm saying.

 

[mandown123]

+1, just gravel vac the sand. If you are concerned about releasing too many nasties, go slow. Do one area of the sand per water change. DON'T replace the sand.

 

[masterswimmer]

Don't touch your sandbed, that's what nassarius snails, cerith snails, gobies, pistol shrimp, cucumbers, sand sifting stars and some wrasse are for.

I've seen more people, so concerned with a pretty, white, clean sandbed, disturb it and release the nasty gases from the anaerobic zone that they cause horrible algae outbreaks and sometimes worse.

Your sandbed has two layers, aerobic and anaerobic. The aerobic layer is the top, oxygenated zone. This supports very beneficial bacteria. Siphoning or vacuuming this layer to 'clean' it is completely counterproductive. Don't do it. Therefore, if don't disturb the aerobic zone there is no way for you to do any more harm by disturbing the anaerobic zone.

All of this will become blatantly clear when one day you have the 'pleasure' of breaking down a very well seasoned, multi year old tank and inhale a nice big lung full of the aromatic sandbed. Putrid would be a good description. At that point you'll say to yourself, self, now I know why I didn't want to release that noxious odor into my beautiful reef.

You're welcome

 

[JavyJaverson]

i believe it is beneficial to slowly replace a sand bed every 2 years or so. Once you take it out and see how black and disgusting it is, you will also agree. it can be done without releasing too many nasties into the water column, just slowly syphon the sand so that it takes about 2 weeks to get about 2/3 of it out, then add new clean sand. I have done this several times on shallow 2-3" deep sand beds and it remedies the slow creeping nutrient problems that arise in heavily stocked tanks.

 

[oro50]

Thanks for the responses.
Yeah I have gravel vacs. I have two of them. I've never really been able to use them, or I should say they haven't done much.
My tank is only about a week past six months so now it's just about 6 months and 1 week. Thus this tank isn't even a year old yet, and has a way to go before making even that milestone. If I did replace sand, I was going to do it very gradually, (meaning a portion was going to be removed every three months, not every two weeks). Yet now reading from you all, I will just leave it alone for quite awhile. Lastly, I just have one fish, so besides one fish and a 11 or 12 size cleaner crew, I don't think I have a heavily stocked tank. Thanks though for the replies.

 

[ducati335i]

I vaccum my sand at least once or twice a month.. It's a 3inch or more shallow bed.. Never had a problem. To me it's like kitty litter

 

[Reef Lobster]

If you clean it from day one then sure, if you let it sit 6months + then just leave it and throw some sand sifting critters in to help clean it. Replicate the ocean as closely as you can. No need to use manual labor for something a simple addition would consider a great meal!

 

[Jlavine]

oro50: are you still in the hobby? how is your tank doing?

 

[Johnny Spesis]

I have 3-6 inches of sand and live sand, and I have tried to keep things as natural as possible. With a 180, I've had as many as 6 horseshoe crabs. They seem to do a great job cleaning the sand bed. Many don't know what a horseshoe eats, but every month or so, my crabs shed. After, they are almost doubled in size. So they are eating.

 

[rhdoug]

I have a shallow bed, probably from 2 to less than 1 inch in the viewable area. It is deeper in the back and under the rock closer to 4 inches on average. I have never replaced any sand in 16 years, other than to add a bit when some enough eventually gets removed during water changes, or to add some new bugs. I use a baster to really stir it up at least once a week in order to keep it relatively clean. I notice a marked improvement in the corals when I keep this routine, and a decline when I neglect it.