adding live sand refugium to established tank???

[supermarvin76]

I had a refugium on my tank, but took it down a while ago when the return pump went out. Now I am in the process of rebuilding the sump.

My question is this: once I put it all back together, and get ready to set it up can I add sand to it with out causing a mini-cycle?

I will be moving in about 10 months, so I was thinking about going with a super DSB in the refug along with cheato to help lower my nitrates as they are around 20ppm right now.

No coral in the tank right now, MIGHT add some easy softies later.

Any other tips / suggestions would be great..

Thanks!!!

 

[cweder]

The live sand like Aragalive is completely safe IMO. I did exactly what you are doing 3 weeks ago with no problems. Just dont put the DSB in line with the rest of your tank for a couple hours to let the dust storm settle a bit. As long as the sand is clean you are good to go at this point. I also put some aragamax at the same time to mix with the live. This sand was a bit dirty and I needed to skim off some of the water first before letting it flow to the rest of the tank. Using 100% live sand would be best. I took a bit of a chance but all is well. Your tank may be cloudy for 12 hours or so until completly settled.