New nano in the works

[2639]

I thought i'd give it a try

I am finally putting my 10 gallon together tonight. I am trying out the Great Stuff DIY backdrop and going to use some leftover equipment I have laying around so this shouldn't cost me much ( yeah right ).

Before I start, I want to ask some questions.

The first one I have is about my substrate, I'm going to use a DSB and I have enough from my sump on my 65 gallon that has been sitting, in water, in a bucket for one week. If I put it in, that will obviousely release toxins that have been trapped. How long, generally, will that cycle last? It's already live sand but it's just the fact that I'm transferring it and it has been sitting in a bucket for a week.

I'll certainly keep an eye on the nitrogen cycle. Would anyone advise against using this sand?

 

[bklynbubblez]

you have to be careful with deepsand beds because it can build up detritous through the years. i would prefer a 1-2" max depth of LS or if you dont mnd the way it looks doing bare bottom is a good option for full reef tanks too.

if you take out the sand and notice a foul smell (trust me, you will notice the smell), then you shouldnt use the sand. for you to use that sand you will have to wash it and let it dry out, which means that it is no longer live sand.

 

[2639]

I just finished my three month-long project of removing my 4 inch dsb from my 65 gallon. I decided to go barebottom with it because it was a maintenance nightmare. I guess I had that for a year or so

I'm sure it's not THAT bad ( yet ) but I've never reused sand in this manner.

 

[2639]

btw
Welcome to Reef Central

 

[2639]

Well, it's been 5 days now. I went ahead and put in my old live sand and actually, I'm glad I did it. I had a short ammonia spike, followed by a nitrite and a nitrate spike and I'm just waiting for the nitrates to go back down.

I'm going to take some LR out of my 65 gallon and put in the 10 gallon and wait a few more days and then start fragging my LPS from the 65 gallon very slowly.

This is pretty exciting I'll take pics maybe tonight or tomorrow when the camera charges

 

[CPT. MURPHY]

Looking forward to pics

CPT.