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Replacing Sand bed.


Sunstar

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I have been thinking of replacing my sand bed. I have had the sand for a very long time and I am thinking, that since I did a few errors with it years ago, I could perhaps replace it. (I mixed in some beach sand in my ignorance)I suppose with the concern of silicates, I want to move it out to my crab/mantis tank.

 

I also don't like the look of "mix" it looks tacky.

 

First of all, how would I go about removing most of it.

What is a decent sand to use.

And the stuff sold as "live sand" is basically just wet?

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I don't really get the prepackaged live sand thing. If the amount and type of bacteria in an aquarium's sandbed are adapted to the gasses and nutrients available in the aquarium, how useful can the inhabitants of a sealed bag sitting on a shelf in a store actually be? I can't imagine that there's anything aerobic in any quantity. And If a load of anaerobic bacteria suddenly end up in an aerobic environment, won't they just die?

Seems like a very inefficient and expensive way to seed a tank to me.

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  • 2 months later...

theres more life in the bag then you would think. I've used the Caribsea a few times and evrytime, within a week or so, i see sign or worms and other things against the glass. I also got a nice pod bomb from the last bag in a brand new tank.

 

I started this tank with a bag of live sand, a couple pieces of rock from my home tank and some base rock. I barely had any cycle and 6 weeks in I ordered a CUC from John. 6 weeks since then I have not lost one single snail. I still have the 5 original hermits I added too. I did however lose a green chromis the day after i put it in, but i think it was more an acclimation thing

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Nano sapiens

Aragonite sand is typically used and is what I have. 80% of mine is 17 years old and performing just fine. If the sand bed is real dirty, be very careful stirring up too much all at once if you do remove it. I would err on the side of caution and remove small portions of the sand bed over a month or two, assuming you have a decent amount of live rock to effectively continue the nitrogen cycle. I'd be mindful to keep feeding in check during this period so that the live rock bacteria aren't overwhelmed by excess nutrients.

 

Any sand in contact with live rock will soon become populated with organisms, so buying 'live sand' isn't necesary IMO. From what I've read, purchased live sand may have some beneficial bacteria, but how much and if they are the correct type(s) for our reef aquaria I can't say.

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JavaJacketOC

I have been thinking of replacing my sand bed. I have had the sand for a very long time and I am thinking, that since I did a few errors with it years ago, I could perhaps replace it. (I mixed in some beach sand in my ignorance)I suppose with the concern of silicates, I want to move it out to my crab/mantis tank.

 

I also don't like the look of "mix" it looks tacky.

 

First of all, how would I go about removing most of it.

What is a decent sand to use.

And the stuff sold as "live sand" is basically just wet?

 

For the removal, you'd probably want to remove a small amount at a time, say 10-20% every few days. Remove it in sections from the top of the sand bed to the bottom in 1 area, don't just siphon off the top layer.

 

Once that's all done and you've decided on a new sand that you want you have a couple options:

  1. Cycle the sand in buckets using old tank water then add it all at once when the cycle is complete
  2. Add small amounts of sand to your tank over the course of a week or 2. My friend used the "live sand" and didn't experience any ammonia, nitrite or nitrate spikes, he did 1/3 of a 20 pound bag every 3rd day to a 35 gallon tank.

 

Just make sure you rinse the really fine stuff out of the new sand so you don't get a major haze.....even if you stir up a mess, it'll probably be clear within a day or so.

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thanks guys. I know what I got in it may have silicates. Which is why I am considering removal. my sandbed is fairly used to being stirred as I go in once a week, and swill up a section just before a water change and syphon the cloud.

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