Keeping lighter substrates clean...

[Martin]

Hey all,

I wanted to solicit for you guys thoughts on how to keep lighter substrates (sand and the like) clean.  I love the lighter appearance for some of my setups, but I know eventually its going to get littered with waste and plant material.  My RCS tank is currently sand only and it is pretty much impossible to keep it clean.  The best I end up with is a peppered appearance due to the volume of shrimp poop.  

I see all these photos online of tanks and their sand is practically pristine.  I know some are probably professionally kept but I just wonder how it is done.

[Biotope Biologist]

Suck up surface waste with python, then when refilling with water from the python make sure it’s creating a bubble stream and aerate the sand! If you don’t have critters to constantly churn the substrate it’s the best you can do.

 

You are always going to have algae issues on the surface though.

[Rube_Goldfish]

Malaysian trumpet snails and corydoras, among other animals, will stir up sand and bury poop.  Cories and other digging fish might not work in a cherry shrimp tank, though.  You can also just sort of stir it up yourself with chopsticks, aquascaping tools, or just your fingers.  Lastly, you can give gently "puffs" of water with a turkey baster to kick up mulm (but hopefully not sand) into the water column to give the filter a chance to grab it.

[Remi de Groot]

For a shrimp tank you could also try a feeding corner or feeding dish if you don't have it in the tank yet.
Doesn't help for the poop, but at least keeps your food on 1 spot in the tank so it is easy to remove.

Image of feeding corner

[lefty o]

On 12/27/2022 at 9:29 PM, Martin said:

Hey all,

I wanted to solicit for you guys thoughts on how to keep lighter substrates (sand and the like) clean.  I love the lighter appearance for some of my setups, but I know eventually its going to get littered with waste and plant material.  My RCS tank is currently sand only and it is pretty much impossible to keep it clean.  The best I end up with is a peppered appearance due to the volume of shrimp poop.  

I see all these photos online of tanks and their sand is practically pristine.  I know some are probably professionally kept but I just wonder how it is done.

most of those pictures of perfect tanks, are tanks that have just been set up.

[nabokovfan87]

Weekly siphon.  Nothing fancy.  It's manual effort.

[Goldie Blue]

Honestly, my tank with white sand looks a lot cleaner than the one with black sand lol. You can see everything in my dark tank! But yeah, swirling the python above the sand when cleaning and agitating the sand while filling is great advice. 

[T. Payne]

Corydoras will stir the sand up and suspended particles from their digging should be picked up from your filter.

[Patrick_G]

I try and make sure I have flow over the area with bare sand. It’s never spotless but it’s free of poop and detritus. 
My wife has a small tank with black sand. She uses mystery snails and Otocinclus to keep things clean. It’s more or less spotless after24 months. She does a bit of vacuuming once in a while but not much. 

[Martin]

Thanks all, sounds like it's going to be just good ole elbow grease then.  The shrimp tank has so many nooks and crannies I'll never get some spots, that and I always feel bad when I suck up a shrimplet and the trauma kills them.  I had the hunch that a lot of the nice photos were likely recent setups, but wasn't sure if I was just doing something wrong.