Advice on 75g FOWLR makeover???

[maxwell2002]

ok so here's my situation, I am currently treating my fish with coppersafe in a hospital tank. It just occurred to me that could i possibly use this empty DT time to correct an error in judgement thats been bugging me since day one? I used white sugar fine sand and have hated it since! It blows around way too easy, always looks dirty, and i'm always filling in bald spots! so my question is if done carefully and correctly, are there any adverse effects to changing to a larger grain live sand or crushed coral? I have a tentative plan on how to go about this, but any helpful tips would be awesome! thanks

 

[maxwell2002]

wow, not one reply!! thats awesome!!

 

[carey]

I would say you can replace it in sections, how big is your tank?

 

[Kio707]

Lol... Feel you on the reply thing. I think changing your sand should be fine. If there are any spikes or issues, your fish aren't in there anyways. IMO, I'd change it and you should be fine...

 

[maxwell2002]

hey thanks guys! I thought it would be ok, especially since it wont have any fish in it for another 4 or 5 weeks. I plan on taking out as much water as i can without disturbing the sand, set that water aside in containers. Put all the live rock in containers, take out the old sand then put the new sand in, then the rock and water. Now my next question is, will the tank need to cycle again???

 

[rdnelson99]

You shouldn't see a cycle as long as the rock stays wet. Don't use the so called "Live Sand" because it will most likely cause a cycle if in fact there is anything alive in it. If you use the Home Depot play sand (wash it first) there is nothing in it that is alive so it won't cause a spike. Then when you put your live rock back in, it will start to seed the sand and you should not see any cycle whatsoever.

 

[maxwell2002]

awesome! sounds like a plan, except the home depot sand part, lol. Think i"ll stay away from sand. Was thinking about crushed coral? any thoughts? Not a big fan of the snow storm effect ive got goin on now! lol

 

[rdnelson99]

LOL Sorry, forgot the whole point was to get rid of the sand. I don't have any experience with crushed coral but I would suspect that as long as you wash it good you would have no trouble.

 

[maxwell2002]

thanks a million! one more question, its a75g and i have 2 koralia 1050s, could that be too much movement? i,ve tried moving them aaround but i've always got the snow storm and barespots!

 

[Kio707]

thanks a million! one more question, its a75g and i have 2 koralia 1050s, could that be too much movement? i,ve tried moving them aaround but i've always got the snow storm and barespots!

Bring them down and point up... I have crushed coral and like it.