chvynva916 Posted January 16, 2003 Share Posted January 16, 2003 I am moving my 5g tank to my new 10g+10g fuge setup. My question is, when cycling my new sandbed in my 10g tanks, can I fill them maybe a third of the way with water and drop a powerhead in the water for some movement? Will that cycle the sandbeds alright over a period of two weeks? I don't want to break down my old setup until I have a new good cycled tank to put my old stuff in. I also didn't want to have to move my old tank before the big transition. Any ideas? Link to comment
Twins Guy Posted January 16, 2003 Share Posted January 16, 2003 are we to assume this is live sand in the new tank and if so what kind-source? FWIW a lil water and a PH should do the job. are you gonna add more rock cuz cycling that now with the sand might be a good idea? Link to comment
chvynva916 Posted January 16, 2003 Author Share Posted January 16, 2003 I have 30 lbs of Nature's Ocean live sand, 15 lbs of Nature's Ocean sugar sized sand, and a scoop or two of sand from the fuge of an established 500g reef. I'll add maybe three lbs of extra lr so I'll throw that in the tank while its cycling. Thanks! Link to comment
Twins Guy Posted January 16, 2003 Share Posted January 16, 2003 right on...i've had very good results with the nature's ocean stuff. up here on the tundra its really your only option. couple 4-5 inches of brine and a powerhead and that stuff'll be ready to go. i've never seen a cycle using that's nature's ocean sand but i like your idea of just being patient and "cycling" it anyways. GL! Link to comment
chvynva916 Posted January 16, 2003 Author Share Posted January 16, 2003 Do you have any experience with the Nature's Ocean Marine White Sand? It doesn't seem to be Aragonite but its very fine and I was looking for a sand bed with particle size: ~45% <.5mm ~45% .5-2 mm ~10% larger pieces. Link to comment
Twins Guy Posted January 17, 2003 Share Posted January 17, 2003 no i haven't seen that stuff before-gawd i don't have to say that very often-that means you're doing well chuey! up here we only see the 0.5-1.7mm (or 2, whatever) aragonite stuff. i actually like that size cuz its not blowing all over the place like the sugar sands-but i do recognize the benefit to your DSB in using that finer stuff. let us know how you like it! Link to comment
leslr Posted January 17, 2003 Share Posted January 17, 2003 One thing you should do with regards to the water and sand is save all your old water (~60%)from your small tank water changes before you go ahead with the new one. Really wash the new sand(tap water,rince with Filtered,followed by a soak in old tank S/W) Put the sand in, add the old water,add the heater,filter and let it cycle a few days to clear it up and then add as much as you can spare of the top 1/3 of sand from your old tank,or failing that try and get a couple of good scoups from somewhere. I used a 12" piece of 3"clear plastic tubing to add the old sand, it kept the water pretty clear and you can have more control where its put. Let that cycle for a few more days. Then add most of the LR.Let it run for a few more days. Then when your ready take out a gal of water, put in your corals,live stock etc and put in the water from the "old" tank. I did it this way when I went from a Eclipse6 to a 10gal,and Dave ESPI was the one who mentioned saving and using your old water as it has all the bacteria etc in it as well as you know its good water and is not a shock to the tank inhabitants. Your going to have some sort of bloom but this way it is kept to the minimum. Anyway sorry to rant. Its just my opin:) leslr. Link to comment
Twins Guy Posted January 17, 2003 Share Posted January 17, 2003 ok sorry to rant too but...please if you're gonna use "live sand" as chuey specified do NOT rinse it in freshwater. in fact i've found this water packed "live" stuff chuey and i were talking about to be very clean and not require any rinsing (i pour off the juice its packed in, then maybe pour on some tank water for a rinse before adding it to the tank). other than the part about killing everything off i like your method leslr. fer "dead sand" this is the way to go. tg Link to comment
chvynva916 Posted January 17, 2003 Author Share Posted January 17, 2003 Obviously I wouldn't rinse off the live sand. I can't imagine that's what leslr meant. I don't even want to rinse off the sugar sand. If the water is cloudy for a few days so be it. I want lots of little sediment in my DSB. Link to comment
Twins Guy Posted January 17, 2003 Share Posted January 17, 2003 no chvynva that wasn't intended for your ears-yer all good. mostly it was for others who read along (unlike leslr), knew that we were talking live sand, and was intended to prevent a rookie mistake. i don't know how else to interpret leslr's post. Link to comment
leslr Posted January 17, 2003 Share Posted January 17, 2003 I never said wash the live sand. I'm sorry it was misunderstood. He mentioned adding "3lbs" of "extra"sand ,which I related to "NEW SAND". I couldn't agree more on the benifits of the old sand use. As I mentioned I have just recently went from a 6 to a 10 and thats what worked for me. There are other ways of doing it. One is to just start from scratch. leslr. Link to comment
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