How to remove DSB?

[joelsaxton]

I have a 240g, mostly softies and several fish. I have tried to get this DSB to work for the past two years, but it seems kind of dead. I have had three cyano breakouts, and I have finally gotten tired of how bad it looks. I may even decide to replace the live rock. I want to keep the fish, though - I have grown attached to them.

Anyway, my question is - how do I remove a dysfunctional sand bed without killing everything due to nutrient spikes, which I anticipate, will occur. My best guess is to do it in very small increments with a fine net, but with over 400 lbs of sand, it will take months to finish. If anyone has any good ideas, please let me know, thanks.

 

[joelsaxton]

The reason I post here is because I have tried and failed to keep SPS. I recently got a big skimmer and I wish to try again. This is something I am not doing soon, but probably a few months down the road. I may decide against SPS, but I at least want to get rid of most or all of this sand. It is about 4-5" deep.

 

[drtango]

A large bore siphon tube, or better yet a wet/dry shop vac. You can actually remove quite a bit at a time if careful to just vac it out and not disturb it much. Be sure to have some fresh saltwater on hand to replace the volume.

John

 

[joelsaxton]

wet/dry vac? What kind would you recommend? Is it saltwater safe?

 

[NuclearReefs]

Id siphon it out with a 1 inch ID hose very carefully,, and do it in stages .. big water changes after each time you pull sand out.. How deep is it?

Remember you have Toxins and Lower PH if its over 2-3 inches deep.. Sulfides down there... = high nitrates when they hit higher PH water...

 

[joelsaxton]

4-5" deep over an area of 16 sq. feet

 

[Serioussnaps]

sulfides sulfides....bad stuff..

if i were you i would put all my livestock in another tank and sipone out all of the sand and do a LARGE WATER CHANGE

 

[ScallopKing]

Wet dry, did it myself. Just don't leave too much water in there. Will work great!

 

[joelsaxton]

Thanks.

 

[dndbenson]

I just did mine this last weekend. I removed all water and put into large rubbermaid containers. Removed all rock and then used my wet/dry vac to remove sand. I cleaned the rock in two stages of salt water before putting back into my tank. Then I pumped the original water from the tank back into the tank through a sock filter. It took a great deal of time and you need to make sure you have enough salt water to put back in for the space you loose from the sand. My tank came out great. Just make sure you have the better part of a whole day to do this.