Convert CC to DSB

[petiscm]

i currently have 2" of CC in my reef tank and want to conver to DSB. I bought 100 pounds of Southdown Sand at a local HD.
I might need more sand. I was a LFS and i seen one of there reef tanks and it had a base of CC and about 4" of DSB ontop of the CC. My question is should i add the sand ontop of my CC or should i remove the CC and replave it with the sand? I have alot of critters in my CC i am afraid of losing it all when i replace it. Any ideas or suggestion.

Its a 40G breeder tank



TIA

:bum:

[griss]

The CC will eventually work its way to the top of the sand....IMO you are better off removing the CC and putting only SD in.

griss

[DgenR8]

Griss,
I gotta ask you if you have seen this happen? I've heard the same thing many times, infact, I asked this very same question (almost word for word) when I first started out here and my tank was about 4 or 5 months old.
The replies I got were about 50/50. "NO, don't do it, the CC will migrate to the top and look ugly" OR "Go ahead, add the sand slowly right over the CC."
I went the easy route, took out enough CC in the front of the tank so you couldn't see it under the sand, and over the course of about two weeks, I clouded my tank daily untill I had my DSB over the CC. No problems yet with CC migration and I got to keep the critters.
Even if some of it does work it's way up eventually, I think it would just look natural.
I was concerned with certain sand dwelling critters reactions to it, but the ocean floor can't possibly be made up of nothing but uniform sized grains of sand without any crushed up coral pieces mixed in.

[Ozzy]

I changed mine out about two months ago,I could'nt get S.D sand so I went with a fine white silica base sandblasting sand,I left some good patches of my old CC in mine just to help seed it,I also made up some bags of the old CC to set ontop of my new DSB for about two weeks to also help seed,after I pulled out the bags of CC I also added a larger grain sand on top to stop the digging,for this I used live pink sand,I kinda have the same take as DgenR8 on this,the ocean floor is not just sand,I kinda have a mix and I see all kinds of critters in my sand :D
ozzy

[Atticus]

It is all up to you.... Obviously the sand being of smaller gain size will fall below the larger CC. But, if you pull all of your CC you pull and stir up your 2inch Biological filter. Others may post after me stating... The live rock will be enough bio filter for the tank. If you believe that why are you wanting a 4inch DSB???? How old is your tank and what type of bioload do you have in it? Do you plan on adding sand sifting animals to this tank? Travis

[Ozzy]

The live rock will be enough bio filter for the tank. If you believe that why are you wanting a 4inch DSB????
I do'nt think he said that:rolleyes:
as for the sand bed and why one would want one read this (http://www.rshimek.com/reef/sediment.htm) from Doc Ron,it explanes why you want a 4-6 inch DSB:D
ozzy

[Atticus]

Ozzy, Thank you for proving my point by taking that quote out of context..... My point was that it would be more detrimental to remove the CC than to cover it. Dr. Ron has even stated this in many post on this board. By removing the CC you release toxins that were trapped and stored by the sandbed. This would cause your tank to biologically start over with the new substrate only. By leaving the CC you carry over the biofilter and keep a more stabile environment inside your tank. Dr. Ron also states that you should decide what type of animals you are looking to have in your DSB to decide substrate size. Different critters require different grain sizes to live and thrive.

[Ozzy]

Sorry Atticus
I did read that wrong the first time around over that first cup of
coffee this morning,no harm done :D
and I'm glad I could be the one to prove your point:p
ozzy

[Atticus]

np ozzy

[Ozzy]

:thumbsup: