A Dilema

[OhTheHumanity]

I have a not yet cycled 55gal with coral gravel and 5 lbs of [acronym:d322b67fe8="Live rock"]LR[/acronym:d322b67fe8]. There are 3 damsels, to sally light foots and a hermit in the tank.

Here is what I was thinking.

Buy a 10gal (which I will need for a [acronym:d322b67fe8="quarantine or quart depending on context"]QT[/acronym:d322b67fe8] down the road anyway). Remvoe water from my 55 and put it in the 10 and put my livestock in there. Then I would remove the coral gravel and replace it with live sand. After all the sand settles I would cycle with shrimp. Then replace my livestock back to the 55.

Now the questions.

Is all this necessary? I don't want to add sand to the tank with the livestock in there because I am afraid the sand my get in their gills.

Can I take out the fish long enough to add the sand? Should they not be in with a decaying shrimp? I'm thinking the ammonia would definately kill them.

I was going to use play sand and out [acronym:d322b67fe8="Live sand"]LS[/acronym:d322b67fe8] on top of that. How much [acronym:d322b67fe8="Live sand"]LS[/acronym:d322b67fe8] would would be good for seeding play sand in a 55gal?

I don't like asking so many questions, but I want to do this right. Last thing I want to do is waste money and worse yet kill my animals.


Thanks

[OhTheHumanity]

I ahve so much running through my head, I had already asked the shrimp with the livestaock question... Duh But if you want to answer again I'll be more than happy to listen. lol

[Wally]

I have been reefing for about 14 months and keep learning more every single day(great hobby). Is your question about removing the [acronym:e470cfbd1e="Crushed Coral (if substrate) or Counter Current (if referring to a Protien skimmer) or cubic centimeter (if referring to a measure of volume)."]CC[/acronym:e470cfbd1e] and adding Southdown in the first place or have you already made that decision? Also I have a 55 display tank with 60 lbs of live rock and sure wish I had more for appearance sake.

[OhTheHumanity]

I want to remove the [acronym:c35bb83faf="Crushed Coral (if substrate) or Counter Current (if referring to a Protien skimmer) or cubic centimeter (if referring to a measure of volume)."]CC[/acronym:c35bb83faf] and add [acronym:c35bb83faf="Live sand"]LS[/acronym:c35bb83faf] and a base sand.

How to change out your substrate

Cheers
Steve

[OhTheHumanity]

Steve was there supposed to be a link there? lol

[Wally]

The link worked for me ok

[fishfreek]

I judt think they didnt realise it was a link. Steve likes to hid links behind text.

THe fish will be ok with the substrate change. A little sand wont hurt them. After all what happens when a huricane comes across a reef? You dont want the fish in with the decaying shrimp. And I really dont think you want 3 agressive damsels in a 10 [acronym:e1dffba1d8="Gallon"]gal[/acronym:e1dffba1d8] tank.

[WildFlower]

What I did recently was way too aggressive, but I took out my under gravel filtration, the [acronym:955d6f18b2="Crushed Coral (if substrate) or Counter Current (if referring to a Protien skimmer) or cubic centimeter (if referring to a measure of volume)."]cc[/acronym:955d6f18b2] base, plain and simple, I took everything out and cleaned the tank. I then added 115 lbs of [acronym:955d6f18b2="Live rock"]LR[/acronym:955d6f18b2] with a very shallow live sand base, 1" at most. And If that were not enough I put my clown, 2 damsels and serpent right back in the tank.

My tank immediately had a massive ammonia spike, I've been fighting it for a few days with many water changes and a dose of ammonia xtinguisher which I would never recommend anyone resorting to (cept in my case).

However, so far so good... I may just be riding on the high side of my luck right now and all **** may break out in my tank at any moment. I've made lots of mistakes and most of them were because I did not research enough and acted too quickly. Time will tell.... But a big thanks to all who have posted previous experiences and offered assistance... I'm hanging in there. WildFlower

[OhTheHumanity]

Yep Steve did hide the link from me... lol