Opinions on cleaing PFS

[Zach]

Hello everyone,

I have PFS (pool filtered sand) as my substrate for my cichlid  tank and I LOVE it! I don't think I will ever go back to gravel substrate again. It just looks nice, is easy to clean (for the most part), and is cheap!

My question would be, what is your most successful way to easily suction the poop that's on the top of the sand? When I do water changes I try to get the most out as possible but the what usually ends up happening is lots of sand comes up with it...then back down. Any opinions and advice is welcome.

Thanks
Zach

[Marty]

Unless someone has come up with a method that I'm not aware of, you're probably going to lose some sand when you're using a gravel vac.  The good news is that it's cheap.

You also have to watch out for dead spots in the sand where toxins to build up.  Every once in awhile, I like to move all the sand around and start over with a 100% water change.  I'll take the fish and filters out and save a couple of buckets of old water before I start swirling everything around so there's still some beneficial bacteria in the tank after I've replaced the water.  Just make sure you dechlorinated the new water before you put the tank water from the buckets back in.

Other than that, I think it's just finding the spot to hold the vac above the sand to get the detritus but not too much sand.

[Regalblue]

PFS is 20¢ a pound. I don't worry about sucking it out.

[Zach]

Good ideas. Yeah I'm not worried about sucking up sand at all. The problem is, the poop stays around

[Steve]

I take the long wider end tube off the end of my Aqueon water changer/vac and use just the suction from the hose which gives more suction with the big tube removed. That way I can hold the hose higher off the sand bed and still suck the poop yet if sand starts to rise up then I just move the hose quickly and it doesn't suck the sand up then.

[jkeeler]

I take the long wider end tube off the end of my Aqueon water changer/vac and use just the suction from the hose which gives more suction with the big tube removed. That way I can hold the hose higher off the sand bed and still suck the poop yet if sand starts to rise up then I just move the hose quickly and it doesn't suck the sand up then.

What Steve said 

Or you can buy clear tube from Mennards..cheapest I found.  The trick is finding the right height were the poop is sucked up and the sand stays put (mostly).