Switching out sand?

[CodeBlueMedic]

So, I've got black hawaiian sand in my 125, but I'm really not a fan...I think I want to switch it out with aragonite or something similar. It's a FOWLR and it currently has a few snails, porcupine puffer and fox face in it. Is it possible to switch out the sand without messing anything up or causing a dangerous level of stress for the fish?

Thanks so much

 

[syngraves]

try scooping out small sections of the tank over 2-3 weeks. for example: start on the left side of the tank and remove all the sand in the area of 6in from the glass. once that small section is gone to can either add some of the new sand carefully and let the beneficial bacteria move into the new from the old sand or wait a day or two and remove more old sand. if you go with the second, add sand in small increments over a week or so once all old sand is removed
.

 

[alf1096]

Agreed with above

 

[explorer07]

Try siphoning some out at a time less mess if you keep the tube closer to the sand bed.

 

[CodeBlueMedic]

Do y'all think there would be too much of a cycle if I just pull it all at once?

 

[explorer07]

You definitely run the risk. And you actually might hurt the filtering process of your established system.

 

[whosurcaddie]

Do y'all think there would be too much of a cycle if I just pull it all at once?

Depending on the depth of the sandbed it might not be whats caught in the sand that would hurt your system but its overall filtering capacity. If its 3 inches or more I would say do it in 25% sections. If its less than three inches you could do as much as 50% at one time. But I would wait a week to complete the other half.

Edit: I would also remove all your old sand before adding new. It will be impossible to remove the black specs (see profile picture.) I recently switched all that sand because of those black specs. Also just to let you know getting that last little bit of sand out is a pain it just kept appearing day after day in my tank when I was removing it.

 

[formsix]

I was also going to suggest removing all of the old, in 2-3 sessions a week apart, and then add the new. Also make sure to have lots of mixed salt water on hand, and up your water changes a bit to help remove any crap that gets into the water.

 

[Shaummy]

I was also going to suggest removing all of the old, in 2-3 sessions a week apart, and then add the new. Also make sure to have lots of mixed salt water on hand, and up your water changes a bit to help remove any crap that gets into the water.

+1 to this...also keep in mind that depending on how deep your current sand bed is, taking it out will displace less water so you'll have to put more in the tank to keep it topped up.

 

[shesacharmer]

Lots of people run bare bottomed tanks. The thing is that you need plenty of robust live rock to make up the difference. If you have a lot of rock and remove your old sand over time the rock will take care of it...if you run a small amount of rock it will have trouble keeping up. Don't mix your black sand with your new sand unless you like the salt and pepper look. Just take your time removing every last bit and monitor for a cycle. Keep Prime on hand just in case.

 

[Sk8r]

You could also set up a sand/rock fuge to back up your aragonite sandbed.