Help with Live Sand

[turbotec]

OK sorry for such a basic question. I just bought a 60 GAL SW aquarium setup which has some live rock along with 2 Damsels and a few small red leg crabs. I would like to add a Diamond Goby or 2. The bottom of the tank is crushed coral, and I know I must replace this with live sand. So to take the live coral out, should I drain the tank? do I need to buy ALL live sand to replace or does the live sand GROW? and multiply. I am really new to this, sorry for such a beginner question. any info or material you can turn me onto is great Thanks for your time

[nxb161]

As far as draining the water I'll leave that to the experts, but I wouldn't worry about buying live sand, just get some dry argonite sand. The live rock will feed the sand and become live in time.

[melosu58]

You dont have to drain the tank. Take a plastic hose and siphon out water. then as soon as it starts start siphoning out a 1/4 section of the CC. Then get some regular dry aragonite sand and rinse real good. Then get a piece of PVC and slide the sand down to the spot you just removed the CC. In a week try another quarter of the substrate. In a month you`ll have it changed to sand.

BTW welcome to AA

[Greenmaster]

Melosu knows his stuff but just to clarify for you so that you understand why you only do 1/4 a week. Your dry aragonite sand will become live slowly and to change it out... if you change it all out at once your sand doesn't have the chance to get the critters from the crushed coral.

[Krypt]

+1 for Mels tip. One of the important reasons you do it slow is that some of your beneficial bacteria may reside in the CC and if you change it all at once, it'll mess up your tank and can cause an ammonia spike. A 1/4 at a time will allow the bacteria to regrow elsewhere and as Greenmaster said, will allow any critters to jump over to the sand.

[capj64]

I have cc, why does it have to be switched out to sand?

[Greenmaster]

He want's Goby's and they are sand sifters they need sand the CC will cut them up and doesn't pass through their gills.

[Krypt]

Originally Posted by capj64

I have cc, why does it have to be switched out to sand?

CC often leads to nitrate problems if not extensively maintained. Sand is alot easier and allows you to have a more diverse clean up crew.

[turbotec]

thanks so much guys. Excellent responses. and that is exactly what I will do. Great tip for 1/4 section at a time.

[willmarr87]

I had the same problem with my 60 gal I added live sand to my crushed coral bed and i didn't drain my tank and even with rinsing it was extremely cloudy till it settled three to four days later I had all of my live rock and fish in a tupperware till it cleared. even with rinsing the sand it will still be pretty cloudy

[jeffwisely]

i would say if your tank is already setup do do as mel said because when you add sand or base rock to fast to a tank that is already set up you get new tank sendrome. this is a way of avoiding it

[turbotec]

well I tried syphoning the coral out with just my regular autoprimer syphon. Well that didnt work to well. it filled the chamber and clogged up. So I am going to go buy a little bit bigger hose and just straight syphon with no big chamber like my auto prime syphon has on it.

[milhous3er]

how much sand do you think i'd need for a 38 gallon tank (as in pounds) ?? whats a good depth for a "DSB" ??

[turbotec]

I cannot speak for the good depth for a "DSB". I was gonna shoot for 2 or 3 inches just as a personal preference. Here is a calculator for how much sand you will need once you decide the depth. I also used 70 LBS instead of the preset 90 in the calc. read the footnote for more info

http://www.reefcentral.com/calc/SandBed.php

mods: I dont know if I am allowed to link to another forum. if not please edit this post. I could not find a local (website wise) sand bed calc.

[milhous3er]

55 lbs for a 2" and 75lbs for a 3".

Google is my 2nd favorite website !!

[Greenmaster]

turbotec people link to other websites all the time. This site is to small plus it's out there already so why do it up again. As long as you are linking in good spirit I don't think anyone will have a problem with it.