Hi Mephys and
to TR.It sounds like you got a great deal on your tank. I think that you will like your sand. How deep is it? From the
FTS I think it may be >4" which puts you into a
DSB. I am a fan of
DSB and think they are a good choice. You don't want to vacuum a
DSB like you would gravel. It works because anaerobic (without oxygen) bacteria in the bottom of the sandbed provides denitrification. Vacuuming the entire sandbed would add oxygen and kill these bacteria. HOWEVER, I do use the gravel washer attachment to my siphon on my sandbed. Every time I do a water change I choose a small area of my sand and purposely disturb it. I stop the flow of water through the siphon with my thumb and push the gravel washer into the sand. Then I release my thumb, allow the water to flow for a second, which picks up a small section of sand in the tube. I then stop the water and let the sand drop back down where it belongs and pull the tube back out of the sand. I usually do this twice in different areas of my 54 gallon tank each water change. I try to pick a different area each time I do water changes.
