Changing out my sandbed

[Bcb577]

Well after battleing either dinos or a severe case of cyno.,it back.I went lights out for a few days,dosed peroxide,Fed one a week,then it went away,I slowly ramped up my lighting starting with about two hours of daylight and worked back up to 8 hours after about 10 days and everything was doing great,well now it's rearing it's ugly head again,so now I'm thinking about tearing the tank apart and replacing the sand bed.I have limited resources and money but I know I have to do this,this tank started out bad from day one and has never been right.at this pinot I'm so frustrated I may even toss the rock work and start completely over! Just venting,lol any advise on how to do this would be greatly appreciated.

I have two nano tanks that's why I've posted a col different things,lol

[brandon429]

http://reef2reef.com/threads/the-official-sand-rinse-thread-aka-one-against-many.230281/#post-2681445

 

that's one good step by step process for it all, w pics, multiple tanks

 

 

you basically just rip it all out, rinse the new fully (doesn't kill its bac as covered) then set it all back up on top of new sand. The only way you can mess up is by cleaning the waste partially, so that rotten cloudy mess results when you set it back up.

 

done right, the old was tossed and the new was rinsed so well, and the rocks rinsed off in saltwater, that not a shred of detritus remains and zero things went wrong and the new tank was setup with zero clouding it was simply ready to go. try to get that wet pack live sand from caribsea, if possible, since it helps in some bac establishment as well. rinsing it doesn't remove bacteria it removes the silt.

 

reacclimate fish and corals, don't use any old water do 100% all new water. your live rocks are plenty of filtration, and however much your new sand brings in.

[Bcb577]

http://reef2reef.com/threads/the-official-sand-rinse-thread-aka-one-against-many.230281/#post-2681445

 

that's one good step by step process for it all, w pics, multiple tanks

 

 

you basically just rip it all out, rinse the new fully (doesn't kill its bac as covered) then set it all back up on top of new sand. The only way you can mess up is by cleaning the waste partially, so that rotten cloudy mess results when you set it back up.

 

done right, the old was tossed and the new was rinsed so well, and the rocks rinsed off in saltwater, that not a shred of detritus remains and zero things went wrong and the new tank was setup with zero clouding it was simply ready to go. try to get that wet pack live sand from caribsea, if possible, since it helps in some bac establishment as well. rinsing it doesn't remove bacteria it removes the silt.

 

reacclimate fish and corals, don't use any old water do 100% all new water. your live rocks are plenty of filtration, and however much your new sand brings in.

thank you for the info! Sounds like I can do this in a col hours or less!

[Clown79]

There is a full set of step by step instructions(curtesy of Seabass) on Hammerstones thread regarding changing out sand.

 

The thread is Hammerstones Tank.

[Bcb577]

Thanks clown79

[Bcb577]

Ok, I read the step by step on hammerstones thread and it seams pretty straight forward,but I just have one question?how should I treat the bioballs?if I wanted to get rid of them I'm guessing I can't just chuck them all in the trash,I'm guessing I'd still have to do a gradual like 1/3 at a time disposal of them ?I planned on using filter floss and some chemipure in chamber two

[brandon429]

Nope you can chuck them, threads shows all required filtration ability remains after the cleaning and bed replacement if at all. leaving detritus in the tank via partial action has caused all the problems attributed to missing bacteria, where living substrates are concerned.


We don't even have to remove sand in increments when going bare bottom... all have that much extra surface area ready to remove if needed

[Bcb577]

Nope you can chuck them, threads shows all required filtration ability remains after the cleaning and bed replacement if at all. leaving detritus in the tank via partial action has caused all the problems attributed to missing bacteria, where living substrates are concerned.

We don't even have to remove sand in increments when going bare bottom... all have that much extra surface area ready to remove if needed

ok that's good news ill just buy some floss,but some new chemipure since its due and I should be fine,thank you