LR dusting

[Original Fin]

Anyone know if there's any benefit or detriment to occasionally "dusting" my LR? I do this because my sand substrate tends to get kicked up over timeand settle on the rocks. So I've been using a turkey baster to gently clean sand out the rock pores. (while in the tank without moving them) I do this on a monthly basis. The sand and detrius reenter the water column...some settles back on the rock, and some gets filtered off. I may be way off on this, but I was thinking that in a way, I'm kind of simulating a storm, which is a natural part of reef ecology. Am I doing any harm?

[Ninong]

You are not doing any harm. In fact, what you are doing is beneficial. However, try to blow the sand back onto the "ground" instead of onto some of your corals.

Once your reef aquarium is more mature, you will have virtually no sand on your live rock and just detritus. Blowing the detritus off of the live rock and into the water column is very beneficial for everything in your aquarium.