Going from BareBottom to DSB

[sjj80]

My tank is 90g and I'm wanting to go back to DSB but have some questions. Do I need to remove my fish and frags when adding the sand? I will be adding the sand the next time I do a big water change so the tank will only be 1/3 full. Any and all suggestions are appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Capt_Cully]

when I add sand I pre rinse the **** out of it with RO water. Then I leave it wet (water poured off). I scoop the clumpy sand into a glass, lower the glass into the tank, allow glass to fill with water. Then lower glass to point in tank you want the sand and pour it slowly out. It gets nicely directed and avoids full on clouding of tank. You'll still get some cloudiness, but minimal. I'd do the water change AFTER that.

New sand will contain silicates which could encourage a brown slime or cyano outbreak for a while. Don't ask how I know that one.............

 

[sjj80]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12608186#post12608186 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Capt_Cully
when I add sand I pre rinse the **** out of it with RO water. Then I leave it wet (water poured off). I scoop the clumpy sand into a glass, lower the glass into the tank, allow glass to fill with water. Then lower glass to point in tank you want the sand and pour it slowly out. It gets nicely directed and avoids full on clouding of tank. You'll still get some cloudiness, but minimal. I'd do the water change AFTER that.

New sand will contain silicates which could encourage a brown slime or cyano outbreak for a while. Don't ask how I know that one.............

Do the live sands do that as well? I've always used caribsea live sand and just added directly to the tank. The glass idea is a good one.

 

[Capt_Cully]

not sure on that one. I've never used live sand. once you add the sand to the tank, it'll become live. but i guess the live stuff wouldn't have all that dust, so maybe it would be less of a problem. you got me wonderin.

 

[sjj80]

The first time I bought live sand my LFS said not to rinse it and to put all the sand and water into the tank. I was just curious about the chance of an algae bloom, I'd imagine it wouldn't be so bad since my tank finished cycling months ago.

 

[Longchamp]

You do 60% water changes?


Anyway...this is what you do... Get a 2-3ft section of PVC and put it into your tank with the end sticking out, then pour sand into the PVC. This will prevent any sand storm, especially if you rinse the sand first.

 

[RicksReefs]

for live sand, I clean the outside of the bag, snip a corner off, lower the bag to the bottom and slowly pour it out. IME, it helps keep the finer particles buried in the heavy stuff. you'll get some haze no matter what you do, but I've found this helps keep it down to a minimum.

 

[sjj80]

Thanks everyone for the tips!

Longchamp: I normally do 10-15% water changes but this BB system just isn't working for me, My nitrates are through the roof and I have algae that's somewhat controlled. I'm finishing up a 40g water change today in hopes of getting my nitrates down and I'll probably need to do another huge w/c to get them between 5-10.

Will my fish and frags be ok in the tank while I'm adding the sand?

 

[Been_There8]

Well how many fish you got in there and how much you feed it and how often.... Your Signature sais your nitrates are 5. Thats not bad at all if they are 5, and if thats your only reason, i wouldnt do it.