DSB conversion

[slimtim260]

i posted this in anoter section but i didnt get any answers. i switched from cc to a 6"DSB in my 46 bowfront 2 weeks ago. i have 50# +/- of lr in my tank. there were fish in the tank prior to the swap and then went with inverts (considered going reef insted of fish). then i did the conversion. i took out 20 gallons of water and replaced that with RO water form a grocery store (i did the swap at 2 am so the LFS were closed). added prime (double dose for 50 gallons every day for 2-3 days) to help kill anythign that was in the water and to help keep the cycle smaller. i also used some cycle but there was only enough for 2 days. it went thru a small cycle and i havent tested the water in about 3 days. the ammonia was at 0 before (cc and fish) now its at .25ppm. nitrates were 60-80ppm w/cc and fish and now its at 20-40 ppm (i found 2 dead snails in tank and have 2 peppermint shrimp that are MIA). i put everyhting in the sump ( a emerald crab,4 snails, and another crab) accept the 2 snails that i overlooked and kept in the tank. the lobster got to sit in a bucket of old tank water) when i did the switch everything died with a quickness. i put carbon and the white filters in my wet dry to help collect fine particles of sand heres my list

46 gallon bowfront
mag 7 return pump
rio 2500 pump for skimmer
uv (not hooked up)

i have a few questions.

1. why are my nitrates still high? i heared that the LR can soak up the nitrates and release them in water. i dont know if maybe the peppermint shrimp crawled up in the bio balls and died but theyre still mia or if its just part of the cycle. if thats the case isnt the 20-40 range kind of high? especially if i added prime and the ammonia was only at .25ppm.
2. im considering of getting some live sand from the lfs to seed the tank. if so how much would it speed up the process of getting the sand "live"
3. i noticed all the "bugs" that were crawling on the lr/cc are gone now how do i get those back?
4. are there any critters that i can get to help speed up the process for the sand becoming live?

i dont want to put any fish in the tank (yes im going DSB with FOWLR but im using bigger partlcles of sand so hopefully it wont be as cloudy if it gets disturbed) if the sands not ready to handle the bio load so im curious of a timeline of when i can start adding stuff to the tank. can anyone help me out ?

 

[ALTI]

good luck with the new dsb. A mini cycle is normal, but as long as your rock was cured to begin with it should go away shortly. Im not sure what u r talking about with "prime". Sounds like one of those miracle cures in a bottlethat does absolutely nothing.

your nitrates will not vanish into thin air overnight. removing the crushed coral does not remove the nitrates. it only removessome of the waste that was causing the high nitrates. you need to do more water changes to get them down and when the dsb is functional it will help keep them down.

no need to buy the live sand now. just let the LR seed the sand. patience is the key to this hobby and you might as well learn that lesson now.

the pods you had on the glass before will come back. dont worry.

the LR should have enough type of critters to populate the sand bed. live sand from the LFS is probably crap. ask some locals if they have a cup of live sand they can give u.

you mention using a larger grain sand for the dsb. how large did u use. the whole point of a dsb is using fine grain sand. if the grain size is too big its just a waste. the sand has to be fine enough to not let any oxygen through to the bottom layers.

 

[DJ88©]

[moved]

 

[bjonesjr1]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7013051#post7013051 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by ALTI
Im not sure what u r talking about with "prime". Sounds like one of those miracle cures in a bottlethat does absolutely nothing.

Prime is actually worked for me in the past... It helps me with my freshwater & saltwater tanks. I know it doesn't remove ammonia, nitrates, nitrites over night but it does help with the tank and not hurting in the tank and over a short period of time its your filtration that does the trick and removes that stuff

 

[slimtim260]

i used the prime to get rid of any of the chemicals that were in the RO water from the grocery store. i realize that there is no miracle cure in a bottle. the sand has a mixture of smaller sand ( sugar grain size ) with some bigger stuff thats about the same size that i have seen in bags of LS. i also realize the point of a DSB. i also realize that removing the cc wont do anythign to the nitrates. i had to remove it to convert to a DSB. my biggest worries are getting the DSB up and going so i can add stuff to the tank (its been sitting there with a lobster and a few crabs for about 6 months now) and getting the "bugs" that were crawling on the LR/CC back without buying more LR. how can i go about doing that ?

 

[slimtim260]

anyone ?

 

[rustybucket145]

I would suggest adding a 'cheap' fish like a damsel or something to produce waste in the tank. You really should try to get a cup of live sand from a friends ESTABLISHED reef tank. I say reef b/c these tanks usually harbor more of the 'critters' that you are looking for. Be sure to get a deep scoop of sand because you want some of the stuff at the bottom as well as the top. And when you transfer it to your tank be sure to bury some of it in your sand bed.

 

[slimtim260]

the bad thing is that i dont know anyone that has a reef tank. or saltwater in general for that matter.

 

[affan]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7189337#post7189337 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by slimtim260
the bad thing is that i dont know anyone that has a reef tank. or saltwater in general for that matter.

If your LFS owner is a nice enough person, you should be able to talk him into selling you some sand from an established tank.

 

[catdoc]

check out www.indmas.org and you'll track down some Indiana reef-keepers. Where in Indiana are you, btw?