# How to separate sand from poop?



## OVT (Nov 29, 2011)

I have several tanks with sand substrate (black and white) and every time I vacuume I invariably suck in some sand. As the saying goes, poop does not float and I have a miserable time reclaiming clean sand.

Any advise us much appreciated.

v3


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## AshNeon93 (Jan 11, 2014)

Waft something around the substrate to kick up the poop, then suck it up, it doesn't really matter if you don't get every single bit if you have plants anyway


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## Bandit1200 (Dec 11, 2010)

This is probably not what you want to hear, but I don't bother seperating it. I have about 200 lbs of black diamond still in the bag, so eventually if I ever get to the point that it looks like I need to add some more, I'll break open another bag.


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## Art by Stef* (Jan 27, 2013)

This is why I am hesitant to add sand to a tank, although I love the benefits and look


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## Fishumms (Apr 21, 2010)

out a net or panty hose over the end of the intake and don't suck up the sand to begin with. That is what I do.


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## rustbucket (Oct 15, 2011)

perhaps you need more flow. 

I have light tan play sand and never have to vacuum it even with plecs. I have a big filter and a couple powerheads set up in a way that I have no dead spots. Can take time to get it right, but I love never seeing any poo even with a heavy stocked tank.
I also have a betta so couldn't have a huge amount of flow, I think the trick for me was putting the powerheads quite low without blowing the sand around.

My trumpet snails and corys help a great deal as well as they never let anything settle long enough for me to see it, they shuffle the sand enough to keep the debris in the flow and to the filters. (or bury it)

Or if you really must clean the sand, you can pinch the tube each time and let the sand fall back down, but that's a pain. The stirring up works as well, to an extent I found when I tried it if I got close enough to suck poo, the sand came too.


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## DogFish (Jul 16, 2011)

Leave the POOP alone.


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## Art by Stef* (Jan 27, 2013)

Lol


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## acitydweller (Dec 28, 2011)

I used to leave the poop on the sand but noticed that TDS would creep up sooner than having purged the waste. i swirl the substrate beneath the intake hose and let it siphon what it can. Plant tongs were okay to use but my other hand actually worked better around plants and to shooo away any fish that gets too close.


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## ua hua (Oct 30, 2009)

DogFish said:


> Leave the POOP alone.


:icon_lol: 
We all know how much Dogfish likes his POOP

I wish I had a good answer for you Oleg. That's why I'm hesitant at using sand in my tanks. The best way I could think of was what Bandit said and just suck some of it up and replace with some new clean sand.


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## OVT (Nov 29, 2011)

DogFish said:


> Leave the POOP alone.


I just came back from poop detail (walking the dog). Even for a 190lb dog, today we had a bumper crop. We will get run out of the neighborhood if I follow your advice 

Fish wise, I wish I could train them to use 'the spot'. In a 75g I have 4 blood parrots, a pleco and 10 cories, with 2 x Eheim 2026 and a Koralia 7 and still the stuff is quet visible on black sand. The fish are wearing parachutes, but the stuff does not move...

In a 24" deep 60g I got 24 panda cories ... and white sand. Well, it used to be white, with an eheim 2075 and another koralia.

I did try to use (my wife's) pantyhose but the poop is larger then the sand grains.

I don't have the same issue with AS as it just a tad heavier then poop and for those tanks it does serve as fertilizer.

For my lower light tanks with no co2 pooped out substrate + high flow and I get the most gorgeous BBA I can grow.

please keep the ideas comming.

PS: DogFish: a fresh care package is on it's way to you. No charge, my friend 

v3


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## DogFish (Jul 16, 2011)

For the most part fish poop will settle down through the Sand Cap. I don't "face up" the fronts of my tanks so you can see the Sand Cap & MTS layers. There are time when you can see poop settling to the bottom.

I do occasionally get larger grains of the old playsand floating up to the top of my newer PFS Cap. I use a 5/8" ID vinyl hose to spot syphon off the top 1/4" of sand if I want a fresh appearance. I find I have a lot more control using just the hose vs. 2" diameter syphon tube. At $8 for 40#s of PFS, not al that big of an expense. Dirty water & sand goes on the house plants, garden or on the compost pile.





OVT said:


> ....PS: DogFish: a fresh care package is on it's way to you. No charge, my friend ...


I've got plenty of Freeze Dried Poop Pies, it was 1 degree here this am.


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## Menace (Jan 15, 2014)

I wave the siphon just over the sand to stir the sand up (my sand is pretty lightweight) and then any debris gets lifted up into the siphon. Only get very very minimal sand and you can always just wiggle the siphon and the sand usually stops siphoning. Least in my experiences.


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## gSTiTcH (Feb 21, 2013)

Don't push the vac into the sand. Maintain about 1/8" distance from it.


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## thelub (Jan 4, 2013)

Menace said:


> I wave the siphon just over the sand to stir the sand up (my sand is pretty lightweight) and then any debris gets lifted up into the siphon. Only get very very minimal sand and you can always just wiggle the siphon and the sand usually stops siphoning. Least in my experiences.


This



gSTiTcH said:


> Don't push the vac into the sand. Maintain about 1/8" distance from it.


And this

I usually swirl the bucket of water and the poop and other detritus will mix in the water and the sand will quickly settle to the bottom and won't wash out when you dump the bucket.


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## Knotyoureality (Aug 3, 2012)

+1 on using smaller diameter hose for sand tanks. I'll use a bit of airline hose to suction up around the base of plants, in the nooks and crannies of particularly gnarly driftwood and to skim an 1/8" or so over open areas that have accumulations. The process generally stirs up the bottom a bit (aided by my pleco zooming around in irritation), so when I switch to a larger diameter hose for the rest of the water change, a moderate amount of the light stuff kicked up into the water column will get pulled. 

In a 20g long, even in a bone-tired, bleary eyed, shaky handed state, I seldom manage to suck up more than a half teaspoon of sand--easily replaced, if the commulative amount ever becomes noticeable--with a top off of new sand from the bit leftover from when I set up the tank (or pinched from another sand tank being broken down).


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## FishStix (Sep 19, 2013)

What type of black sand are you using?


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## OVT (Nov 29, 2011)

Thank you all.
The combination of small diameter hose and replacing the sand - got it.

I am using CaribSea Tahitian Moon. It was on sale, I should have bought more.

v3


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## Menace (Jan 15, 2014)

is the gravel cleaner that I have. Hose diameter is pretty large and I don't think the diameter is the problem but you just have to develop a technique. You only want to hover over the sand but while the suction is flowing you can circle just above the sand to stir it up and the debris gets sucked up afterwards. Pretty simple but on my small depth tank trying to get it started is difficult.


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## FishStix (Sep 19, 2013)

OVT said:


> Thank you all.
> The combination of small diameter hose and replacing the sand - got it.
> 
> I am using CaribSea Tahitian Moon. It was on sale, I should have bought more.
> ...


Other than the poop problem, are you happy with it? I am thinking I was going to buy this for my new tank.


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## Nu2Plants (Jun 22, 2013)

I don't think there is a good way of not pulling some sand out each time you vacuum. You'll just have to replace it as time goes by. To me, it's more of a benefit. Over time you'll keeping turning over the sand bed. You won't have old stagnant dirty sand. However if you have a ton of plants with big root systems it could get tricky.


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## harilp (Feb 23, 2013)

Question of the year!!
I have this question before 2 years its gonna get clarified!!

Sent from my Blackberry Playbook using Tapatalk2


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## OVT (Nov 29, 2011)

FishStix said:


> Other than the poop problem, are you happy with it? I am thinking I was going to buy this for my new tank.


I am pretty happy with it: it is very uniform, very easy to plant in from tiny to huge plants, it is pretty clean - just dumped it into 2 tanks with fish and the slight cloudness goes away in couple of hours, all fish us fine, it is very black, not grey black.

My only possible gripe us that has a bit of metallic sheen if you look close at a certain angle. I also used the same brand in white - pretty happy with it also.

I did clean one tank with it last night using recommendations here - swirling the hose just above the substrate. Takes a bit if practice, I did not get *all* the poop but I also did not get a lot if sand either, maybe a teaspoon from 3 bags in a 40b.

I need to clean white sand in a 24" deep tank and I am not looking forward to it: the cories made a nice mess out of it (there is black AS on three sides of the white sand "beach"). Good experience for me.

I need to get my expectations of white in line with reality. I either have to get used to the idea of replacing some of the sand on a regular basis or get used to the grey white. White sand is a luxury. 



v3


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## Menace (Jan 15, 2014)

Do you have snails? They like eating poop.


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## OVT (Nov 29, 2011)

I do have snails, but snails do not eat poop. They eat algae and decomposing organics.

v3


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## Menace (Jan 15, 2014)

OVT said:


> I do have snails, but snails do not eat poop. They eat algae and decomposing organics.
> 
> v3


My snail has eaten fish waste.


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## The Trigger (May 9, 2012)

Menace said:


> My snail has eaten fish waste.


Sounds appetizing...


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## Menace (Jan 15, 2014)

The Trigger said:


> Sounds appetizing...


I rarely see fish poop. So either he is eating it or the bacteria is breaking it down. Though I have witnessed him chowing down on the fish poop in the beginning.


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## dana (Dec 12, 2013)

I just vacuum up some sand, poop is ugly


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## TekWarren (Oct 6, 2013)

This topic is very enlightening! I mean that both seriously and with humor. I use PFS in my 40b at home.


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## Art by Stef* (Jan 27, 2013)

Snail waste is not very appealing, either.


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## Italionstallion888 (Jun 29, 2013)

I have CaribSea Tahitian Moon in my 3 tanks as well. I kept having this same issue and often would see a bunch of sand in the bottom of my buckets. I strolled around walmart and found a strainer small enough to let the sand go through but tends to keep the poop in the strainer. I run the sand through it twice with water and vinegar before putting it back in the tank.


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## Menace (Jan 15, 2014)

Art by Stef* said:


> Snail waste is not very appealing, either.


The snail waste decomposes extremely fast in my tank.


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## Menace (Jan 15, 2014)

I will note I'm only dealing with 1 platy and 1 snail right now though, so my poop load isn't that much.


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## BruceF (Aug 5, 2011)

One very small pooper scooper.


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## Art by Stef* (Jan 27, 2013)

I have one large rams horn snail who's dumps would rival an adult goldfish.

It's in a bare bottom bowl with subwassertang and mossballs.
I have to WC that bowl every other day, and I feed it twice a week-a tiny tiny piece of algae or carnivore chip (rotated).


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## Knotyoureality (Aug 3, 2012)

Art by Stef* said:


> I have one large rams horn snail who's dumps would rival an adult goldfish.
> 
> It's in a bare bottom bowl with subwassertang and mossballs.
> I have to WC that bowl every other day, and I feed it twice a week-a tiny tiny piece of algae or carnivore chip (rotated).


 
Yep, folks always talk about plecos being poop machines, but between the 20 or so adult rams horns and the mature BN pleco housed with them, the snails win hands down in the poop department.


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## aquatik (Jan 21, 2014)

Snails poop alot. If you have a MTS infestation it's difficult to tell because they're always buried. Too many snails will increase your nitrate levels i've found. Swirling the sand around gets alot of the poop out and that might be the easiest way to separate it from the sand. 

Also, i've found the type of sand you have makes a difference. fine or jagged sand will be sucked up into the siphon alot easier than bigger more uniform grains.


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## OVT (Nov 29, 2011)

Italionstallion888 said:


> I have CaribSea Tahitian Moon in my 3 tanks as well. I kept having this same issue and often would see a bunch of sand in the bottom of my buckets. I strolled around walmart and found a strainer small enough to let the sand go through but tends to keep the poop in the strainer. I run the sand through it twice with water and vinegar before putting it back in the tank.


This is worth a shot. Would you happen to have item / part number / link to that strainer, friend?

Walmart, the pooper scooper specialist, here I come ...

v3


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