sand question

[mshrmhd]

would i be able to take the live rock out of my tank, put it in a tub with some water and a powerhead and leave that go maybe a day or two and transfer my one fish, 2 shrimp, urchin and snails to another tank(s)...

and then my sand options would be
take all out and trash it and replace with new sand? or
take all out and clean it?

should i save some to seed it? or get some from other people?/tanks? or just leave it to do its own thing?

would changing the sand upset the cycle? or would the live rock be enough to keep it from having to recycle?

im wanting to do this because the sand is extremely dirty and vacuuming it doesnt seem to help much at all...


any help/ suggestions greatly appreciated, thanks!

 

[Jim Morrison]

I wouldnt remove the sand that would mess up the bacteria living in it and could cause worse problems. You could take everything but the sand out and then siphon the sand real good then put everything back in. Have a lot of saltwater mixed and do a big water change and that should help.

 

[mshrmhd]

is there a max amount of water that i should change in a day? like 25% now, 25% tomorrow? or is it ok to do more? or maybe less?

 

[Jim Morrison]

Do 50% at once your planning on taking everything out anyway right?

 

[mshrmhd]

ya... only thing that will be left in tank will be the sand till i get it cleared up .... thanks