Adding sand

[asylumdown]

Looking through old photos it's become pretty clear that my tank has lost a significant amount of sand. Surprising considering that for various reasons I've vacuumed out maybe 10 pounds of the stuff over the past year but if you look at the images it looks like I've lost nearly an entire 40 pound bag.

Does anyone here ever addd new sand to their setup? Is it normal for that much to dissolve in 16 months?

[Aquattro]

I've added new sand, not so much because it vanished, just wanted more sand.

[SoloSK71]

Originally Posted by asylumdown

Does anyone here ever add new sand to their setup? Is it normal for that much to dissolve in 16 months?

Depending on your water chemistry and type of sand, yes. I would guess I have had about 2 to 4 pounds out of a 40 pound bag dissolve in the last year, and since I don't vacuum I am pretty sure it is from a chemical process. I am hoping when I get my refugium set up with a light on an opposite cycle it won't be as bad.

Charles

[kien]

I've had sand dissolve too. Not entirely sure how, but if I had to guess, i would guess just friction from the power heads that stir parts of the sand bed, or me raking the sand bed on occasion or the the wrasses constantly stirring the sand, or all of the above. I've added new sand a couple of times now. I also like taking out old sand because it gets dirty and discoloured.