Sugar Sand - Argh!

[spedly]

The biggest mistake I've made in this hobby was putting sugar sand in my display. I've had enough of my tank looking like a snow globe so I'm at a crossroads. Looking for some advice.

Option one is to get rid of it slowly and go bare bottom. I'm not opposed to this idea at all as it would make maintenance super easy. However I do have a pistol shrimp paired up with a goby and a few nessarius snails. I don't worry too much about the snails but don't know what the impact would be on the goby/shrimp.

Option two would be to add a heavier grained sand. My understanding is that the sugar sand would eventually end up at the bottom with the heavier sand sitting on top of it. Not necessarily a bad thing but I suspect I'll get a nice phosphate spike from it.

Surely I'm not the only one who has had this choice in front of them. What did you do?

[Myka]

I've come across many a person at the same frustration as you. I've removed sandbeds in several tanks - usually a bit at a time (like 1/4 per week) and replace with new coarser sand. If you replace 1/4 at a time as you go this works very nicely.

[spedly]

Originally Posted by Myka

I've come across many a person at the same frustration as you. I've removed sandbeds in several tanks - usually a bit at a time (like 1/4 per week) and replace with new coarser sand. If you replace 1/4 at a time as you go this works very nicely.

Thanks Myka. Did you replace as you go? Or did you replace once most of the old sand was removed?