HAS ANYONE EVER TRIED TO CHANGE THERE SUBSTRATE

[flatzboy]

I did read the article about changing subsrtate but I wanted some feedback from anyone whos done this. I have a 20 gallon tall with crushed coral. In the tank there is 16 lbs of live rock and 1 colonie of mushrooms and one colonie of zoos. So I dont think it would be a big deal taking the stuff out. I want to change it to live sand but I made the misteak when I got this tank of going the cheaper way.

 

[stresco]

I did it successfully. I did it in stages. I went from CC to Southdown sand. 1/4 of the tank every week over a months time. It was a major PITA but well worth the effort. Just take it slow and do it in stages. Good luck.

 

[flatzboy]

Thanks stresco I am heading up to the pet store in a few minutes to get some.

 

[stresco]

IMO you would be better off and save a lot of money if you get a couple of bags of Southdown sand and swap your substrate for that. Once you have it all swapped over, get 5lbs of LS from your LFS and use that to seed your southdown. Southdown is only 5 bucks for a 50lb bag where the LS from a LFS will cost you 4-6 dollars for a pound.

 

[Sparky]

I am also in the process of changing my CC out for sand. I, like the posts above am doing it in stages. 1/3 every 2-3 weeks. It is a PITA, but I think it is well worth it in the long run.

Mike

 

[fishfreek]

Are you refering to this article?

http://www.aquariumadvice.com/showquestion.php?faq=2&fldAuto=27&page=1

If so then yes I have done it that way. Given that I wrote that article i would never write anything I would not or hadnt tried myself.

 

[Sparky]

I do have a question....Since the first part of my change is done, I am getting brown algea on the sand. This is normal..correct? It's been almost 2 weeks and I have washed the new batch of sand today. I am thinking about putting it in on Sunday. Should I wait until the brown algea is gone?

Thanks,

Mike

 

[fishfreek]

No need to wait for the algae to go away. Depending on how it looks it could be a datom bloom. Can you describe its apperance some more?

 

[Sparky]

Dark brown and on the very surface. Not stringy or mushy. Just like I had at the beginning of when I set up my tank. If I move it around it just clouds up.

Then if it is OK, I will put the next batch in Saturday evening or Sunday. This way I can out the proto-type cannister filter to the test and see how long it takes to clear the water for me. Last time I had one heck of a storm in there...LOL

Thanks Fishfreek.

Mike

 

[dralarms]

I'm in the process of doing my last tank, I'm doing it 50/50. I did 50 % last week and am going to do 50% this weekend. Then I'll dump some ls out of another tank and be done. I also am getting a small amount of brown, it goes away in just a little while, there is something in the sand initially that feeds it. once it's used up it goes away.

 

[fishfreek]

Sounds ok to me.