That's it. I'm done

[dkeller_nc]

Sorry to hear about the busted tank. I've not had that specific issue, but have definitely lost an entire collection to a 2-week power outage.

Regarding the sand; if you want to re-use a bucket of sand that's been setting since the DT break, I'd suggest treating it. Wash the living daylights out of it with the hose. Then soak it in 5 gallons of water with 2 cups of bleach in it for a day and then re-rinse thoroughly. Follow the final rinse by soaking the sand in water with double the usual Prime dose for 24 hours to ensure that you've removed all residual bleach. The sodium hypochlorite and sodium hydroxide in the bleach will act to oxidize and remove organics.

Alternatively, dilute concentrated muriatic acid to 0.1 N (that's about a 1:100 dilution), and acid-wash the sand. This will remove the outer surface of the sand, as well as any organics attached to it. The sand still needs to be rinsed, but unlike the bleach treatment, there won't be any residual chemical to harm anything in the tank, as all of any remaining acid will be neutralized by reacting with the calcium carbonate in the sand.

 

[Buzz1329]

I will 110% take U up on that thank you!

What is your and others reasoning for ditching the old sand?

Re sand:

IMO,

(1) it's easier and safer to add new sand than to try and clean old sand which if not cleaned thoroughly enough (and you never know whether you have done so) may cause nutrient bloom in tank.

(2) even if you try to transfer sand from old tank to new one, without cleaning it, you're mixing sand from various strata of old sand bed, which again can cause nutrient bloom.

Good luck,

Mike

 

[albano]

I've been transferring sand from tank to upgraded tank, multiple times since about 1991 when I stopped using crushed coral... Quick rinse outs with old tank water for enough to restart sand bed, and fresh water rinse for the bulk of it.

 

[CStrickland]

What is your and others reasoning for ditching the old sand?

There's a few issues, several of which were covered by other posters. Think of it like this: what is the sand doing for your tank?

Some of the things it does get "used up" like the ability to bind phosphate out of the water, or trap organics in a low-flow area (some say it "buffers" ph but I doubt any tank with liverock is relying on that function, marketing most likely). Others don't, like wrasse-bedding and aesthetics. So if you have sand for the using-up reasons, an upgrade is an opportunity to refresh it. You can rinse or bleach the organics off, and acid away the phos. That sounds like a project, considering the cost of new sand.

Some people have the same deep sand bed for years and years with no issue, some people find themselves on the verge of old tank syndrome and are able to reverse course by removing / replacing old sand. It's an old debate, to each her own. There's miles of threads on whether sand helps tanks more than it hurts them. Add to that whether "fresh" sand makes any difference and you are way down a reef rabbit hole

You may not have to bump anyone. Other than bio load they don't take up much space. Honestly I would forget mine existed from time to time and not count him. He was that reclusive. They don't take up much room.

Don't tempt me, the forum has approved my list already. The forum has spoken

 

[reefer1970]

Put everything into as large of a Rubbermaid as you can find, keep everything alive until you can save up and find a deal on a new setup- bigger and better. BTW, do you think your rock was on top of your sand bed and something dug out a hollow? I've been paranoid about that

 

[Zoa Te]

The bottom had a huge crack in it when I went to investigate the issue. I'm not 100% positive how it happened.

Can anything get under it? (i/e; pets, children, etc.):hammer: