Sand Bed

[MCluett]

hey i have Crushed Coral substrate in my 30 gal tank and i am currently a month into my cycle. When i purchased the tank it came with the crushed coral already in the tank and soaking in SW. After reading all the posts on here i realize i want a sand bed now since it is better for all the sifters in the tank is there anyway i can put the sand down on top of my crushed coral or do i have to remove everything and start over again?

[ccCapt]

If you put the sand on top, it will eventually work it's way down to the bottom. Best bet is to remove all the cc. Do maybe 1/2 at a time. Take out 1/2 the cc and replace with sand, then a week later, do the other half.

[MCluett]

will this prove to be a difficult task to do with all the water in the tank and will it mess up my cycling in any way?

[NJGourami]

you could just mix the sand and the coral. The coral will likely raise the ph a bit also just so you know which is ideal for africans but less than ideal for central or south american cichlids. What type of fish are you thinking about getting and whats the ph level of the water coming out of the tap?

[MCluett]

it is a SW tank. i am starting off with 2 clowns but i would like to get some crabs, shrimp, and maybe a startfish and i know they prefere a sand bed because it is easier to sift through

[melosu58]

I would do as Larry said and remove half at a time. Yes you might have cloudy water for a day or two but it will be OK. To minimize cloudiness , siphon out the CC during a PWC and then get a piece of PVC pipe and put one end down at the bottom of the tank at an angle and pour the new (rinsed out) sand in the other end. The sand will slide down the tube and slide into place on the bottom with less of a cloud storm then if you were to just pour it in. HTH

[MCluett]

yeah thanks alot i will start checking out some prices on live sand. how would you recommend i go about washing the sand?

would it be ok if i just threw some of my crushed coral in the bottom of my QT or is it best not to put anything in it?

[melosu58]

I would not put anything in the QT. Also save your money and get dry sand and just rinse it out good and then put in your tank. It will become live over time.

[MCluett]

should i just put the sand in some salt water and throw in a powerhead?

[melosu58]

No you dont have to cure or cycle it. Just fill a 5 gallon bucket about half full and stir it around and try to tilt the bucket and run off the cloudy water and repeat a few more times till you get the dust out of it. Then you should be able to add to the tank per the PVC pipe I was talking about. After you add that batch start on the next batch doing the same thing.

[MCluett]

what are some good brands for sand that i should look for at my LFS?

[roka64]

Carib Sea.

[MCluett]

ok i will go have a look for it. some of my CC is behind my LR would it be a bad idea to just leave it where it is since it isnt accesssible to the fish and to just replace the CC in the front of the tank which is in the open? would the mean the that fish could sift around and i wouldnt have to worry about them disrupting the rock causing a rock slide?

[melosu58]

Yes just get w3hat you can reach.

[roka64]

You can do that, the only issue I see is cleaning the CC in the back, to get the nasties out of it.

[MCluett]

yeah i just realized cleaning it would be diffcult, is there any cleanup crew that coul;d possible help me out there so i dont have to tear down all my rock.

[roka64]

Other than crabs or shrimp, but they will only get what they can reach. Can you get air line tube back there and siphon up as much as you can?

[MCluett]

yeah i should be able to get something back there, there is some space back there so i will get a fairly good clean up crew and see what they can do back there but if they cant handle it i will try to make away back there and maybe switch it over to sand slowly, thanks for the help