I have to move my tank a couple inches.

[hemmer]

Its a 45 gallon with 60 lbs live rock. Problem is i bought a cpr backpak and i have just enough room for it but i cant close the lid or have my canopy on so i need to move it back farther.

I read the thread below on the forum. Ill follow those guidelines to move it about 3-4 inches. Although i have crushed coral and have always wanted sand instead. I read on that thread that some people recommend to discard the old substrate and put in new. Should I / Can I switch to sand?

 

[neilanh]

Yes, if you're emptying the tank anyways, it's an ideal time to do it

 

[hemmer]

I would want to use that caribsea aragonite correct? Because that wont cycle like live sand.

 

[melosu58]

I personally doubt if LS is really "live". Just get some cheaper dry sand that is aragonite and seed it with a cup of real live sand from your LFS or a friend. And if you are going to take the time to remove it then move your tank at the same time.

 

[hemmer]

so i shouldn't have any problems with my fish doing this?

 

[melosu58]

Except for the sand storm that will occur and then die down you should be OK.

 

[hemmer]

Cool. Thanks for all your help.

 

[melosu58]

No problem . I hope all goes well.

 

[hemmer]

Well everything went pretty well. I did have some major cloudiness though. I put in 60 lbs of aragonite. Ill have to do a water change here too because its still a little murky from the sand.

Now i checked the water and my nitrates are at probably a 20-30 ppm. But nitrite is 0, ammonia is 0, and ph is a 8- 8.2.

If i keep doing water changes will the nitrates go down?

 

[melosu58]

They should go down. Twenty is not a bad number but 0 is the goal. The cloudiness in the water will go down in a day or two.