adding sand after cycle is over

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hackteck

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Feb 24, 2005
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i was wondering would it be ok to add ls after my cycle is complete. would it make me go through another cycle?, i'm starting to get brown diatom and i thought perhaps after it goes away i can add another layer of sand over the dirty sand would this be ok?
 
Depending how much sand that you add. Over time your sand will get dirty again. Maybe instead of keep adding sand you get a sand sifter Goby after your cycle is complete. And a clean up crew will help also.
 
Adding ls or just regular sand after your cycle wouldn’t cause you to have another cycle. The brown diatoms are natural and will dissipate as your tank matures.

Covering up also shouldn’t hurt but a clean up grew or sand shifters as melosu58 suggested would be better than adding more sand. Keep in mind some sand shifters are hard to feed and require a mature tank (ie: pods) so keep that in mind if you want to get one or it may not last very long.

Keeping your lights off during the cycle will help keep it under control as well. Brown diatoms are caused by lighting/excess nutrients in the water and you can at least control on of those :)

How many lbs of sand do you have now? You wouldn’t want too deep of a sand bed which can lead to other problems down the road.
 
Problems with a dsb? I thought it was a good thing to have 4 or 5 inchs of sand.. I understand pockets of toxins can build up, but I thought with the proper cleaners/bottom dwellers the dsb was actually a good thing..
(hoping I don't have to dig out some sand now hehe)
 
i have 60 lbs in a 55g whats a good sandsifting invert or fish, also could i get a star fish later down the road if i plan to add corals?.i have a little more then 80 lbs of lr i kept reading these forums and they said that would be enough for natural filtration but my water looked kinda dirty so i got bio-wheel filter was this ok?, tank parameters are ammonia 0,nitrite 0 and nitrates around 5 or so. i added a cleanup crew today with several different types of snails,crabs etc and it got me thinkin if one of them died or if a fish died when i get one would they eat the fish? also how soon can i add cleaner shrimp? sorry for all the questions just wanna make sure i do it right the first time
 
also how soon can i add cleaner shrimp?
I believe that you would want to wait on any shrimp until the tank matures (couple of months) due to the fact shrimp are sensitive to changes in the water column.
 
Most starfish are reef compatible but need high water quality and are very sensitive to changes in oxygen levels, salinity and pH of the water, and cannot tolerate copper-based medications. Best to wait 6+ months for your tank to fully stabilize.

You might want to add another 30+lbs of sand, 60 lbs for a 55 only gives you about 1.5-2” sand bed. That’s ok but 3-4” would be a little better.

Which bio-wheel filter did you get? If it’s the H.O.T Magnum then the micron filter will help in keeping your tank crystal clear, if it’s just a hob free flowing and not a canister then it will only marginally help. Either way you have to make sure you keep the filters clean or else you could see your no3 rise.

Clean up crews will most likely eat any dead fish/inverts but if the fish/invert is too large you will need to remove it.

With any additions doing a drip acclimation for 2+ hours will greatly increase your chances of long term survival. As canyon15 said, waiting for 2+ months will help also and give your tank time to stabilize.
 
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