Changing out Sand. Good idea or not ..

[ensquire]

My 36 Gallon tank has Caribsea Sugar sand, probably about 1 1/2" deep.
Big mistake with a Orange Goby and 2 Koralia 4's moving water. Rocks are constantly covered with fine dust and I have blast sand off of them and every last thing on the sand bed daily.
My question is this. I know there is a danger of causing a cycle if I disturb the bed, but it is only 1 month old and the goby and snails mix it up pretty good. Can I cause a crash if I attempt to remove at least a large portion of this sand?
Question 2 : I am looking at these 2 products to replace the sugar sand in this tank and I might as well order up enough for my 90 gallon at the same time.

http://www.jlaquatics.com/product/cs-asfcc40/Caribsea+Florida+Crushed+Coral+Substrate+-+40+lbs..html

http://www.conceptaquatics.ca/index.php/caribsea-seafloor-special-grade-reef-sand-15-pounds-1.html

Which would be best for future goby/pistol shrimp/wrasse type livestock???

Also, should I use one type of substrate or a combo of sugar and one of these ???

Thanks

[Reef Supplies]

Since it is 1 month old I'd say go for it. If it was a well established tank Id say NO. Over time, a sand bed will accumulate hydrogen sulfide buildup from anaerobic bacteria, if you disturb the sand bed enough you will then release that into the water which can wipe out a tank QUICK.


Why not join the bare-bottom club? :smile:

You don’t need sand in your tank as long as you have a good amount of live rock. Not as nice looking but man is it easier to keep clean! I personally love the look once the bottom gets covered in coralline and some GSP....looks like my front lawn lol

Ray

[Aquattro]

I switched out my sand after a year for the same reasons. No problems at all. My tank is a 180, so I did it in portions to not remove the entire bacterial population.
The whole H2S thing is blown out of proportion too much. Unless you have a deep sand bed (4+ inches), I wouldn't worry about that.

I used the http://www.jlaquatics.com/product/cs-amaxs30/Caribsea+Aragamax+Select++Sand+++Substrate+-+30+lbs..html
which is still fine enough for the wrasses and goby, but doesn't float around the tank.

[reefwars]

I switched out my sand after a year for the same reasons. No problems at all. My tank is a 180, so I did it in portions to not remove the entire bacterial population.
The whole H2S thing is blown out of proportion too much. Unless you have a deep sand bed (4+ inches), I wouldn't worry about that.



exactly ive disturbed more sandbeds then i can count and ive never caused any harsh damage.if a tank gets ample flow and has something like a star or goby to keep the sand moving then i wouldnt worry about it.


my tank is 5yrs old and i just did this to no harm:P

[Faithinc]

For my 55g, I've gone with a mix of 50lbs of the first Caribsea mix you posted, with an additional 20lbs of fine sand. The fine will eventually sift to the bottom, allowing good sand-bed growth (worms and w/e you're looking for if your into sand beds) while the top shale-shaped sand has kept my bottom from turning up a dust storm every time my power heads + return are going.

I don't know if this substrate would be good for pistol shrimp. As i've read: Pistol shrimp will dig into rock if they don't have a solid packed substrate they can play around in. If you really want one of these little guys, I'd buy a really porous rock and bury it under your stand with just the top sticking out. At least then he'd have something solid to dig into.

But I'm just a noob and wikipedia is my friend.

[ensquire]

Since it is 1 month old I'd say go for it. If it was a well established tank Id say NO. Over time, a sand bed will accumulate hydrogen sulfide buildup from anaerobic bacteria, if you disturb the sand bed enough you will then release that into the water which can wipe out a tank QUICK.


Why not join the bare-bottom club?

You don’t need sand in your tank as long as you have a good amount of live rock. Not as nice looking but man is it easier to keep clean! I personally love the look once the bottom gets covered in coralline and some GSP....looks like my front lawn lol

Ray

Thanks for the reply, Ray
Not a big fan of the bare bottom look, plus I always will have a goby in my tanks. I like their personalities.


I switched out my sand after a year for the same reasons. No problems at all. My tank is a 180, so I did it in portions to not remove the entire bacterial population.
The whole H2S thing is blown out of proportion too much. Unless you have a deep sand bed (4+ inches), I wouldn't worry about that.

I used the http://www.jlaquatics.com/product/cs...-+30+lbs..html
which is still fine enough for the wrasses and goby, but doesn't float around the tank.

Thanks Brad, only 1 1/2" at the deepest so shouldn't be to bad. Would it be an option to just layer the heavier material on top?
I'm thinking that the heavier material will settle to the bottom and I will be back at the same place.


exactly ive disturbed more sandbeds then i can count and ive never caused any harsh damage.if a tank gets ample flow and has something like a star or goby to keep the sand moving then i wouldnt worry about it.

I'm sure you have Denny, :lol: got lots of critters that keep it stirred.
I think my favorite is the Giraffe turbos. Don't see them for weeks, then you see the periscope and up they come.

__________________
QUOTE=Faithinc;698910]For my 55g, I've gone with a mix of 50lbs of the first Caribsea mix you posted, with an additional 20lbs of fine sand. The fine will eventually sift to the bottom, allowing good sand-bed growth (worms and w/e you're looking for if your into sand beds) while the top shale-shaped sand has kept my bottom from turning up a dust storm every time my power heads + return are going.

I don't know if this substrate would be good for pistol shrimp. As i've read: Pistol shrimp will dig into rock if they don't have a solid packed substrate they can play around in. If you really want one of these little guys, I'd buy a really porous rock and bury it under your stand with just the top sticking out. At least then he'd have something solid to dig into.

But I'm just a noob and wikipedia is my friend.[/QUOTE]

[ensquire]

What do you guys use to remove the sand, just a regular old gravel vac? Scoop it out ?

[Nano]

syphon it out thats what I was told

[tang daddy]

Use a gravel vac to sift out some and leave half an inch or sand, then dump new rinsed aragonite or crushed coral above, my tank has a mix of both and lots of flow from 2 vortechs. If you have enough heavier substrate ie. More than the lighter stuff the sand will sift to the bottom. Suprizingly enough the bigger stuff always stays at the top and the finer at the bottom. The reason is because the lighter stuff is also smaller so it settles on the bottom easier.

And I crashed my tank last year After pulling some sand out to help a member that was looking for some live sand. A costly $6k in sps and clams down the drain. Rookie mistake I will never make again....the sand was in my tank for less than 1 year but obviously when I disturbed the sand the clams all died inturn killing my sps. Most of the softies and some montis made it tho.

[ensquire]

I am going to order up 100 lbs of new substrate and do a swap and have nice new sand for the 90.

Thanks for all your help people.