Good LFS advice?

[Wocka]

i talked to my lfs and he said that there should be a problem switching out my dead sand bed with aragonite live sand, my tank has been up sicne november, 2003..

i will be switching it out during the time when i move the tank.

this shouldnt cause it to restart its cycle becuase my sand bed now wasnt seeded,

anyone know what could happen; or what has happened

[phenom5]

why not get some LS sand from another reefer and seed your current sand bed?

[Ludwigia73]

If your sand bed has been running since nov 03, it's not dead anymore. Do you mean to say that it was live and now it's dead, having big problems with nitrates and such? If you do switch it out, I'd keep the old sand for the move, you're likely to get somewhat of a little cycle, and removing all the old sand will only stress the system that much more. I'd move the system with all the old sand, then once it's been running a month, I'd change out a third at a time.

[Wocka]

my sand looks dirty compared to aragonite, i dont kno whats with it buts my 2 fighting conchs in a 20g dont clear it up, im just gonna go for switching it out.

i dont understand y this would cause my tank to cycle again, therefor i dont think it would

[phenom5]

If your sand bed has been running since nov 03, it's not dead anymore.

good point.

[Wocka]

but it looks like crap! everyone keeps saying its ditritus but my conchs or blue legs arent cleaning it up,

ok ok say my sandbed is live, and i changed it out with LIVE sand.. what could happen

[phenom5]

but it looks like crap! everyone keeps saying its ditritus but my conchs or blue legs arent cleaning it up,

ok ok say my sandbed is live, and i changed it out with LIVE sand.. what could happen

i assume your talking about the stuff that is bagged with a small amount of water and is sitting on your lfs shelf...first, some of the stuff in there has porbably died, which could cause a cycle, and second, that stuffs expensive and you get little more then some bacteria. why not find some dead aragonite ( southdown or oldcastle or whatever their calling it these days...) and seed that with some sand from your existing sand bed? then it'll look all bright, clean and new, will cost you half as much as the live stuff, and give you at least all the benefits of the live stuff ( probably get more life from your old sand bed.) .

HTH

[mightymouse]

if your sandbed looks like crap now and you change the sand what makes you think it wont get back to the way it is now after time? not trying to sound like a jerk just making a point

[Wocka]

becuase i will be starting out with a livesand bed,

will anyone just answer if i replace my sandbed with livesand will my tank recycle

also: if i leave a gallon or so in my tank when i move it and i stir around the sand real good to get this dirt looking stuff out, and just replace the water thats all funky... would that be good?

[Wocka]

phenom5:

so ur saying i can replace it with dead sand and just seed it with my sand i have now, wouldnt the dead sand cause a tank recycle?

[Wocka]

any more advice?

[bertoni]

Your tank might show some cycling effects, IME. Have some water ready for water changes and some Amquel Plus. I haven't lost much to such moves, myself, though.

I would consider either a DSB (see Dr Shimek's forum) or a bare-bottom tank. In any case, if you add sand, I'd check Dr Shimek's forum for information on stocking.

[chevegan]

No it won't cause it to recycle. It's dead as in it doesn't have living bacteria in it. NOt dead as in decomposing matter. Your current sand has the right amount of "live" to sustain your tank. If you add some goodlooking new "dead" stuff to it It too will soon become alive and work well with no recycle. However if you do a complete sand change, with "live" sand in a bag or not it deffinitly does not mean that it has enough "live" in it to sustain your tank. Here's my reccomendation for YOU since you really want good looking sand. That rinsing thing that you said I don't reccomend cause you'll be getting rid of a lot of good with the bad. what could work is after setting up the tank again you can "sprinkle" so to speak, evenly all the new "dead" aragonite over the top. That will be seeded by your old sand and provide you with a good smooth look. Also from then on every couple weeks ,with your hand, fan over all the surfaces of you tank were there isn't good flow and kick up all the junk. THere you go! Viola! easy as that :smokin:

[Wocka]

can i just stir my sand up a little like a nassarius snail would?

[chevegan]

of course

[bertoni]

I don't know what stirring the sand would accomplish other than killing organisms in it. I guess it'd break up any algal films and possibly release nitrate, PO4, etc, into the water column.

[chevegan]

no problem if you have a good skimmer though....and no extremely sensitive things

[Wocka]

not exactly stirring , but running my fingers threw it, and creating motions of a snail digging in it.. i have a excalibur skimmer that seems to pull out some great skimmate

for fish i have maroon clown and only sensitive coral i think i have would be the kenya tree, the rest are sea mats and mushrooms

[chevegan]

i figured that's what you meant, you should be fine

[Wocka]

k.. thanks for the info, i probly would have switched the sand out without knowing = tank crashed

thanks guys

[Wocka]

just ran my fingers threw my sand, just created a sand storm but didnt see any difference..

i think im gonna go with adding a layer of some sand from a well established reef or just some dead sand, what should i try and get out of those 2?

[bertoni]

How thick is the sand in your tank, and what have you stocked for it?

If you're going to add sand, add a thin layer (maybe 1/4" or so) at a time, otherwise, the trapped organisms in your current sand will die and rot. Dr Shimek's forum has more information.

[chevegan]

amen to that, and yes an established reef would be a way better choice if you know someone with a GOOD reef whos willing to part with some sand.

[Wocka]

my sandbed is about 2" thick,
i just want to replace it!!!!

[Ludwigia73]

What I'd do is work out with some people who have an established sand bed to get a cup or two from each. The more, the better... and ask LFS's also. I saw a corner in a tank at JAWZ.net that had a ton and I mean a TON of spaghetti worms. I tried to buy a baggie of it off of them, they just gave it to me. The more diverse your sandbed is, the better. I'd get about 4 or 5 donors lined up, and when you get home with the sand, siphon off the top 1/2 inch in an area approximately the size of the new sand you'll put in, and replace it with that. Don't do the whole thing at once, you'll shock your system. One of the things I'll be doing, I'm going to get a hot magnum (you can buy em for around 50 bucks online, 60-70 in stores if you look hard enough.) When I do my water change, I'll stir 1/3 the sand bed really hard, suspending the crud in the water column. Then I'll siphon right from the water column, all the while running the hot magnum. I'll leave it on until the water is clear (the stuff will settle out onto the rocks) then blow off the rocks with the powerhead. Once it clears again, I'll disassemble the magnum and clean it thoroughly. I'll put it away until the next waterchange.

[bertoni]

You could just suck it out and pitch it. Maybe replace it with a 1/2" layer or so for looks? As I've said, though, you might see some cycling effects.

Otherwise, stocking it with live sand seems like a reasonable idea.

[Wocka]

so taking out my existing better and replacing it with livesand wouldnt be a bad idea?im going to put some of my old sand in the back of the tank to seed it

[bertoni]

It's hard to say, but I suspect you'll keep having the same problem unless you change some part of the tank's stocking or maintenance.