Stir sand?

[Richison]

In another topic I asked if I should stir my sand after adding 50lbs of South Down to it. The SD is a bit finer than my current sand. One person suggested that I not stir it.

Why should I not? What are the pro's and con's? Anyone think I should stir?

 

[Anonymous]

It should not matter much other than it will make your sand much more milkier if you stir it up more than it needs.

Sooner or later, the sand stirring critters will do it for you to some degree anyway.

 

[Richison]

I just figured if I stir it up then it will be less likely to get milky if something disturbs it. Cause the other sand is less powdery.

 

[Anonymous]

I see. But as long as a small portion of the SD sand is disturbed, it is enough to clould up quite a portion of the tank anyway....

I see some people cover up the SD sand with some crushed coral or sand with larger grains. Don't know if you want to do that to...

 

[Richison]

Don't know if you want to do that to...

Why's that?

 

[Anonymous]

imho....you should avoid stirring the sand as you can interrupt some of the biological proccesses taking place like natural nitrate reduction (nnr) . if you seed your sand with critters, they will stir it enough for you..the 'experts' over at wetwebmedia.com will tell you for a deep sand bed to function properly you need at least 4 inches or less than 1 inch if you're not going for NNR. in between is a 'danger' zone long term and too shallow to foster NNR yet to deep to be fully anaerobic (to culture the specific bacteria needed to naturally reduce nitrates)...imho....don't mess with the sand unless you want to occasionally pass over the top layer to rid it of unsighly algae growth should that occur, then again if that does occur you know you have a bit too many nutrients in the water which may mean lack of skimmage...or questionable water source or lack of necessary water changes

 

[Anonymous]

Oh, I meant Don't know if you want to do that *too*.

I was just giving you another option, that's all. There are many things in this hobby that will give you all good result, and this stir/don't stir/covering up issua is an example.

So is your tank cleared up yet?

 

[Richison]

It is clear now, but that sand residue is everywhere still. Tonight I'm taking out the sump and pumps and giving it a complete cleaning. If I so much as move one of the pumps in the sump, an instant cloud appears.

 

[ChrisRD]

Yeah, the fine grained sands can be a PITA if you don't rinse them. OTOH if you can put up with it for a while, the finer particles that were preserved by not rinsing should help the bed function more effectively (theoretically).

The clouding thing gets better with time. You can use a turkey baster or powerhead to clean-off your rockwork and the tank will cloud up again, but over time it gets to be less severe and settles out quicker.

As for stirring sand - IMO it's fine if you have a shallow, totally aerobic sandbed. If you have a DSB, however, I agree with Abu's comments above.

 

[Richison]

I've just been lightly brushing the rock with a toothbrush. If I use the power heads it just mixes it around and settles back on the rock.

I'm sure my fish are wondering what the hell is going on. :lol:

 

[ChrisRD]

If you blow it off the rocks and it gets back into the water column, your skimmer should get some of it.

 

[Richison]

Oh it does, but it would take me forever with that process. :lol:

 

[Anonymous]

Let the critters do it.