Do you gravel vac sand?

[Fishkeeper125]

So, after listening to Cory's live-stream yesterday, he mentioned gravel vacuuming a couple of times. So I'm wondering, do you gravel vac?  

[Sleepy]

Sand no I just stir it up some at the surface and vacuum out what floats off other wise you will just suck out all of the sand.

[Mitch_ScruffyCityAquatics]

Same for me. Sometimes I hover above the sand to get some stuff, but storing it up a bit works the best. 

[Fonske]

 I do. My sand is very coarse, so pinching the hose a bit is usually enough to prevent sucking the sand out. I also siphon into a bucket, if a small amount of the sand gets in there, it's not a big deal. I just toss is back into the tank.

[aquatoid]

Never, but then again my sand is very fine. Gravel vac is called gravel vac for a reason, it "needs" to be done due to all sorts of gunk getting trapped in the crevices between the gravel bits giving potential growth areas for harmful bacteria. Might be an aquarium myth, but loss of barbels on cories has at least partly been attributed to such bacteria.

Most of the stuff that remains on the bottom gets eaten by my trumpet snails, who are in there to keep the sand loose and.. aerobic I suppose, by digging around and hiding in it. Of course my tank wouldn't qualify as a show tank as I don't mind some "trash" on the bottom.

Most of the trash gets picked up by the pre-filter sponge of my canister filter and internal filter anyway.