Substrate Replacement?

[Engineer Brian]

Hi All

I am new to this forum but I have been in the Salt Water hobby for about 10 years.

I have the original substrate in my 10 year old tank. About 5 years ago I added to the substrate to replace some that got lost during water changes and go to a DSB for a wrasse I had.

The last year or so I seem to be struggling with more algae problems then usual and I have started to suspect my substrate...

I am currently building a new cabinet for may tank and will be breaking down the setup to put it on the new stand in the next month or so. Since I am breaking it down I am wondering if I should replace the substrate. Any thoughts?

I have also gone about a year with a very light bio load for the size of my tank and I wonder if that has negatively affected the BB in my live rock.

 

[scottayy]

Changing substrate can be tricky and cause a lot of water problems. I did it before and it caused a mini cycle. I would recommend removing like 25% at a time and then waiting a few days (or longer) before changing the next batch. Try not to stir it up too much.

A light bioload means light BB. If you increase the bioload you should do it slowly to allow it to catch up.