Sandbed replacement...Need a little advice

[redavdrol]

I have a 75 gallon mixed reef tank that is about a year old. It is my first marine tank and my sandbed has gotten hard as a rock. I find myself wishing now that I had bought a sand sifter to keep this from happening. I kind of wanted to change my rock configuration anyway so I am going to remove everything from the tank and get new live sand. I am also going to get a 90 gallon tank to give my SPS corals a little more room to grow until I get my 240 gallon in a couple of years. I was planning on removing the live rock and letting it cook in a rubbermaid container to kill off a little cyno I can't seem to get to go away. I will place all of the coral and fish in a spare tank and hook up my skimmer and lights temperarily. I was going to install the sand and then the rock. I thought a could put a couple of my chromis in to make sure I don't have any ammonia spikes. I wasn't sure whether I should go back to the deep sandbed or go with a 1/2" sandbed?

 

[Elevate]

If you go with a half inch bed, I think you will have alot of bare spots. I know my sand bed has half inch fluctuations all over. I would go DSB and a good sandsifter.

 

[redavdrol]

Do you have nitrate problems with a 1/2" sandbed?

 

[steve9]

put 100 blue leg hermit per 50gall....

 

[redavdrol]

Wow! that sounds like a lot of hermit crabs. I had thirty snails at one point and that was way too many. Right now I have 6 snails and thats it. I have never tried hermits before. I guess you have to have extra shells in the tank for when they grow.