sand question

[Cruella]

is it possible to add more sand to my established tank?? I don't want to make a mess and have the water cloudy . my enginer goby is always moving my sand bed around and I need more sand now. any tips on how I can do this without making a mess

 

[Dave ESPI]

prewash your sand and add it with a pitcher dunked down under teh surface and poured out slowly. Any super fine particles of sand will dissapate naturaly in a day's time, and "sand storms" happen on the reef anyhow, so no worries about clouding up your water, it settles eventualy.

 

[Linda C.]

Ken668 told me he uses a plastic bag, lowers it in the tank and then slices the bottom to release the sand...I have tried it and it works well. You still get a bit of a sand storm but as Mister Sheedy says sandstorms happens on the reef all the time.

Aragonite sand can dissolve in half in just two years in some systems...the "buffers get eaten up"...so sand as well as live rock needs to be added from time to time. (reduction-oxidation - a.k.a. redox)

 

[Krazy]

Use 1inch PVC pipe with a funnel, works like a charm

 

[Ken668]

A lot of what I've read says you shouldn't prewash the sand. The finer particles are not only beneficial for buffering (as Linda stated) but it's also an important part of the overall substrate makeup to support microfauna.

 

[kpcollins31]

I like Keith's idea with the funnel and PVC pipe -- wish I had done that when I added sand to my tank. I think some cloudiness is unavoidable for the first day or so, but it won't bother anything.

Kevin

 

[monti-mike]

I had used a piece of clear tube about 5 " and put it in that way...

could always drain all the water ?

i wash it a little to get the mud/silt off but not too much.........(i think it all depends on the sand u are using)
peace
mike