changing sand

[trd47]

I've got a 40 breeder with a 20 gallon sump and it's been up for almost a year now. The tank is sps dominated with a few fishes around 5 (nemos, pygmy angels). The substrate I'm using currently is real fine, if I were to turn up the flow the sand bed gets disturbed and now all four corners on the bottom of the tank are exposed. The sand that was covering it has been pushed in the center of the tank and now I have a sand mound and it's covering majority of my rocks. All parameters are zero. It started off as a 1.5" sand bed all around but like I mentioned there's no sand at all 4 corners and about a 4 inch sand mound that is covering some live rock.

Now for my questions...

1. Is it possible to change the substrate into something much coarse or am I stuck with it?
2. If it is possible do I need to be careful on how I vacuum? Should I be worried about starting another cycle?
3. Do I need to transfer inhabitants into a qt?

Any help is greatly appreciated, thank you.

 

[crvz]

You can change it, you just have to be careful about it. One idea is to siphon out the sand a little at a time, say over a month or so, then put new stuff in when it's all out (so you'll be barebottom right before you put the new sand in). If it's a good dry sand that you'll be adding, I wouldnt worry about a cycle, but I would rinse it out real well (I usually just use tap to rinse it).

You could just do it all at once if you wanted, though. I doubt your sand bed is loaded with too much stuff.

 

[trd47]

crvz, thank you for your resposne but what do you mean by "if it's a good dry sand"? Are other brands better than others?

 

[crvz]

no, just saying not something from the back yard. just a quality sand, whether you think that's something silica based from the hardware store (which I would not use), or bagged stuff for the hobby. what are you planning on using?

 

[1fishkeeper]

Just like crvz said you can take a little out for a month or so. That is how I done mine when I changed it over once before. Just use your siphon hose to suck up alittle at a time when you do your water changes. Then when its gone use a good sand that is low in silica so you dont get a massive dantom outbreak in your tank. For putting sand back in I have found that if you use a funnel with some pipe on it that works great. Best of luck with it.

 

[trd47]

I plan on using these, Tropic Eden miniflakes. Here's a link

http://www.premiumaquatics.com/Merc...t_Code=TE-TE03613M30&Category_Code=Substrates