So, I've got a biocube 29. 25#s live rock, 20#s live sand. Bio balls, biocube filter pads, coralife protein skimmer. 2 fish (clown and a small nasu tang-he's temporary), assorted reef cleaners (snails, shrimps, hermits, emerald crabs). No corals yet. Up and running 10 months. Recently suffered an outbreak of cyno. Controlled by siphoning out a considerable amount (along with quite a bit of sand), reduced feelings to every other day, no lights for 3 days. After a couple of weeks all is well. Water parameters normal by keeping up with 10% wc each each week. Ok. So what I'm looking to do, is add a bit more live rock. 2 large pieces (about 10#s) and about 10-15 #s of live sand to replace and deepen the sand bed that I lost fighting the cyno. What's the best way to do this without killing my whole tank. I don't have a second tank that I can use to cycle the sand or the rock in. I do have an extra power head that use to oxygenate my ro/di water and a few 5 gal buckets lying around. But that's about it. I'm also going to replace my bio balls with rock rubble as I've learned from reading forums that the balls tend to become nitrate factories and also that rubble is a better breeding ground for copepods. I have a bag of dry rock and coral rubble but it isn't cured. I've never cured my own rock. What's the easiest way? Can I cycle the sand, live rock and cure the rubble all at once? Help me reefers, you're my only hope.
Adding Live sand nod live rock
- Thread starter shag514
- Start date
uncleof6
Active member
Nothing that you are planning is going to control cyano. Cyno needs next to nothing in order to proliferate, so adding rock, and all that, is not going to do any good. Cyano is generally due to poor circulation and low oxygen levels, nutrient levels have little to do with it...
As for replacing the bio-balls with rock rubble, what is it that rock is not going to do that bio-balls do? They are both nitrate factories, so in essence you are replacing bio-balls with natural looking bio-balls. So now you have learned the science involved. Trading one for the other, eh...
Live sand is a marketing hoax, and there is nothing 'live' about it...it is a waste of money. If you took a lot of sand out, put some dry sand in there, and forget about it.
You have a small tank, and seemingly little experience with keeping reefs, which in and of itself, is not a bad thing, but these little tanks are unstable, and difficult to manage. Not the best place to start as a first or even second tank.
If you cycle rock, and sand in another tank, then move it to the existing tank, it is going to have to break in, mature, or cycle as it is almost erroneously put, again in the destination tank. Dry rock, coral rubble, and sand, don't need to be cured...
Leave the thing alone. Take that power head you wasting by aerating ro/di (which there is no valid reason to do) and use it to improve the circulation in your 29 gallon tank, increase the recirculative flow rate, and see where your parameters go, before you go wasting time and money on things that will probably only make things worse.
The only thing that is worrisome is if you get elevated ammonia levels, and they don't drop rapidly. Then you need to do something with rock, and/or sand...this is seldom a problem however, with a tank that was started up right, and has been running for more than a couple months. Your problem does not seem to involve a lack of biological filtration, (high ammonia levels) which is all the things you want to do will accomplish.
As for replacing the bio-balls with rock rubble, what is it that rock is not going to do that bio-balls do? They are both nitrate factories, so in essence you are replacing bio-balls with natural looking bio-balls. So now you have learned the science involved. Trading one for the other, eh...
Live sand is a marketing hoax, and there is nothing 'live' about it...it is a waste of money. If you took a lot of sand out, put some dry sand in there, and forget about it.
You have a small tank, and seemingly little experience with keeping reefs, which in and of itself, is not a bad thing, but these little tanks are unstable, and difficult to manage. Not the best place to start as a first or even second tank.
If you cycle rock, and sand in another tank, then move it to the existing tank, it is going to have to break in, mature, or cycle as it is almost erroneously put, again in the destination tank. Dry rock, coral rubble, and sand, don't need to be cured...
Leave the thing alone. Take that power head you wasting by aerating ro/di (which there is no valid reason to do) and use it to improve the circulation in your 29 gallon tank, increase the recirculative flow rate, and see where your parameters go, before you go wasting time and money on things that will probably only make things worse.
The only thing that is worrisome is if you get elevated ammonia levels, and they don't drop rapidly. Then you need to do something with rock, and/or sand...this is seldom a problem however, with a tank that was started up right, and has been running for more than a couple months. Your problem does not seem to involve a lack of biological filtration, (high ammonia levels) which is all the things you want to do will accomplish.
Adding rock and sand is less about controlling cyno and more about aesthetics. The 20 lbs of sand i started with created a very shallow sandbed and the rock was of such a shape that it created a very low and very flat rock scape. I want to add the additional sand to deepen the substrate and the rock to elevate the rock scape. The additional bio filtration of the rock/sand isn't a bad thing. Is it? Also, yes this is my first reef tank. Kept freshwater and saltwater fish only tanks for 10 years. Also, live sand is all my lfs carries so unless I order off the net, which I'm loath to do after being burned so often in the past, I don't have much option. As for my choice of a small tank, my budget and available space dictated my options. I am quickly learning the "tender" nature of so small a tank and have for the most part been able to tackle those few problems that have arisen. A I said in my original post, the cyno is now well under control and my water parameters are spot in. I'm sure the tank could use some additional flow and I will address that issue, posthaste. Thank you for your comments. Would anyone else like to chime in on the best way to add additional live sand and live rock to my established nano reef tank?
