Adding Sand

[Gueeto]

I have a 38g that has been up for about 4 weeks, and have had about 10lbs of Live rock and 4 damsels in tank for about 3 weeks. When I originally purchased the tank I bought 40Lbs of Argonite Coral because of course I rushed into this project and didnt read into much before I started burning money. I now really like the look of sugar sand, and wonder how I would go about removing all of that argonite coral and adding LS.

 

[Pandora]

Hi Gueeto,

If you really like the look and have your heart set on changing, I would just drain the tank and take it out, scoop by scoop (with a large bowl or tupperware). It will be a pain, I won't lie to you, but I think I'd do that rather than stir it all up, you will get tons of cloudiness while your damsels are there. And laying the new smaller grained sand on top won't help, because it will sink to the bottom because of the "Dorito Effect". I think you will end up with cloudiness either way, but this minimizes the mess more, and allows you to save some of the water if you have a large container.

 

[Gueeto]

Should I wait till the end of my cycle or just go ahead and do it whenever?

What about seeding the sand?
Will I need to purchase a bag of Live sand or could I use my exsisting argonite coral to seed the sand?

If so, How would I go about doing that?

One last question, I have a fluval 304 and a aquaclear 30 powerhead. When I do this, should I leave these on turn them up, turn them down?

Thanks for all the help, I really appriciate it.

 

[Pandora]

You're going to throw your tank into a new cycle either way with such a drastic change, sorry to say.

I would use a cup or a few cups of your current CC to seed the new sand, though a better source would really be from a clean, established and definitely healthy display tank from another hobbyist. You would need to lay down your fine grained, and then add the cup on top so as not to bury it.

During the settling period, you'll get cloudiness several days regardless. Less current does allow for better settling, but ultimately most of it happens when the tiny colloidal particles become nucleii coated with bacteria, that weigh them down.

Is this going to be a FOWLR (fish only with live rock)?

 

[Gueeto]

I am planning on doing a full reef. Fish, soft corals, clams, and possibly hard corals.

If its going to send it into a cycle, I might as well do it now as opposed to doing it after cycle?

I will probably use that southdown play sand from home depot and purchase some live sand as well from my LFS.

could it be a good idea to move my damsels and LR into a quarantine tank? Should I leave my LR in there to help seed the sand as well? Thanks for all of the patience and information Pandora. I really appriciate it.

 

[WaterKeeper]

Hi Gueeto,

The original sand has not really had time to develop much bioactivity at this point so removing it is not going to cause any great problems. Go ahead and pull it then add the Southdown (Egads you can get Southdown? ). Give it a day or two to settle then add the LS seed. I wouldn't bother removing the fish or LR.

 

[Pandora]

WK is right, as usual... Though I mentioned "throw the tank into a new cycle", your tank is young, and chances are there's not going to be a ton of life in there. Thats why I mentioned maybe seed from another established tank (I think it's a ripoff if someone is making you pay for just a cup or two, unless it is full of diversity, or you are getting more volume than that)... know any hobbyists in the area? A reef club is a good place to meet them...

One thing to mention, reason I asked if you were doing a FOWLR or not; if you are really serious about SPS (hard corals) and clams someday, you might want to reconsider the canister now. There are many who have difficulty with these because they trap nitrate, which pickier inverts don't like. For now, I wouldn't worry about it, but it's a consideration, this is why many people now run sumps with refugiums in them, and just let the skimmer/live rock do the work. If $ is an issue, then sticking with the canister is a feasible way to work it, but I would stick with more forgiving corals.

 

[Gueeto]

Thanks for all of the help guys!!!! I really appriciate it. I will probably go and purchase that sand tonight and add that, and on my next day off go and purchase some live sand. I know the LFS owner and he may be able to give me some live sand from one of the tanks. Im sure I will be back with more questions so thanks a bunch!

 

[WaterKeeper]

You'll get all the help you need, especially when reefkeepers in your area find out you can get Southdown.