Substrate MEss!

[MorayMadness]

Hey friends! Ive had my 55g reef tank pics shown below, with cc substrate for about 2 years now. It has about 70 lbs lr a snowflake eel, a maroon clown, a coral beauty and another fish i forgot the name of,. as well as mushrooms rocks , polyps and a bubble tip anemone. My anemone is getting weaker and weaker as the days pass and its due to the ever increase in nitrates. the Lr covers almost 80 percent of the substrtate so i cant vaccuum as much.

I am seriously wanting to change out the substrate with a new sandbed.

How much sand would be good and is it safe to use this far into the tank life? i am keeping all the water in 2 massive rubbermaid containers.

I can get my sand at HD what would be the best ?





please help!!!

 

[Brenden]

check this thread.
http://www.aquariumadvice.com/viewtopic.php?t=53288

 

[malkore]

You need aragonite based sand, not silica sand. It varies by region whether your Home Depot type stores will carry it or not. Here in the mid-west, they don't, so my only option was to buy CaribSea brand.

From the posts I've followed on the SouthDown,OldCastle,Tropica sands, it should cost close to $10 for a 50lb bag of the right sand. If it's only $3-$5 its not the right stuff. Also, the wrong sand looks like ordinary sandbox sand....while the right stuff will be a little coarser, and a different shade...a little lighter.

 

[MorayMadness]

well im in massachusetts so ill go to home depot today and see what kind thanks !

 

[Don424]

How long has the bubble tip been in the tank? What kind of lighting do you have?

 

[MorayMadness]

ive had my tank for 2 years now and my bubble tip for atleast 7 months, i am using 4 x 65w power compact lighting