Should I replace my sand?

ProAccordV6 · #1 07/25/2007, 07:31 PM

I have a one year old 12gal aqua pod. The origional sand is play sand from a friend of mine's tank. I am about to move my tank and i'm wondering if it would be a good idea to change to live sand. Will there be a cureing period if I switch to live sand?

thanks in advance!

Slakker · #2 07/25/2007, 07:34 PM

It's already live sand by now.

Agu · #3 07/25/2007, 08:04 PM

Depending how dirty your sand is you might want to be ready to replace it. I moved a 3 year old tank and after pulling out the rock and draining it down to a 1/2" of water the remaining water was so bad the bristleworms were trying to get out of the tank

.

What sealed it was my wife by and asking what stunk.

You only need a couple of cups of live sand to seed dead sand and there shouldn't be any cycle.

ProAccordV6 · #4 07/25/2007, 09:03 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Slakker
It's already live sand by now.

This is true. What i was wondering is if I buy "true" live sand from the LFS and add it to my tank, replacing the old sand completely, will I have die off or curing period that will hurt the existing inhabitants (fish, inverts, and corals).

thanks for the replies.

yuridelima · #5 07/25/2007, 11:50 PM

Buying Live Sand, IMO, is a waste of money.

You have Live rock in that tank right? Just buy plain aroganite sand. When you remove the play sand the LR should be able to seed your new sand and you could buy a cup or 2 of Live sand from LFS to help speed the process. Or you could use the old play sand to seed the new sand. Just place the play sand in a container on top of the new sand.

Good Luck,
Yuri.