Changing Substrate
- Thread starter Stalwart
- Start date
The questions to ask yourself are -
What do you plan to gain by making the change?
How deep is the current sandbed?
How deep will the new sandbed be?
You may not have a lot to gain by changing the sandbed, but this depends upon what you are trying to do with the system. You also might want to consider a bare bottom.
Assumeing you still want to do this, you can change out a shallow crushed coral sandbed (under 1" deep) by the method you propose.
However, if you have a deep sand bed things get a lot more tricky, because now you have to deal with the anaerobic layer that will be under the top 1" or so of crushed coral. This can create a real mess if it gets into the water.
In the later case, my first choice would be to tear the tank down and set it up from scratch, but this is often not possible.
My next choice would be to do it this way -
Wash the major dirt, dust etc out of the new sand. You will not get it perfect, but get the worst out.
Prepare new SW so you can replace up to 75% of your existing water if necessary.
Remove and save a few handfulls of sand from the top 1" layer of the old sandbed.
Remove the LR for the time being. If you have room in the tank, you could shift all the LR to one side of the tank, do one side, then shift the LR to the other side of the tank and do that side.
Syphon out the old sand bed, removing as little water as possible. Do not add water removed back into the system.
Add the new sandbed, using the washed material.
Replace the LR.
Use the few handfulls of sand to seed the new sandbed.
Refill the tank with the new water you mixed.
This is quite a project. So make sure you really want and need to do it first.
What do you plan to gain by making the change?
How deep is the current sandbed?
How deep will the new sandbed be?
You may not have a lot to gain by changing the sandbed, but this depends upon what you are trying to do with the system. You also might want to consider a bare bottom.
Assumeing you still want to do this, you can change out a shallow crushed coral sandbed (under 1" deep) by the method you propose.
However, if you have a deep sand bed things get a lot more tricky, because now you have to deal with the anaerobic layer that will be under the top 1" or so of crushed coral. This can create a real mess if it gets into the water.
In the later case, my first choice would be to tear the tank down and set it up from scratch, but this is often not possible.
My next choice would be to do it this way -
Wash the major dirt, dust etc out of the new sand. You will not get it perfect, but get the worst out.
Prepare new SW so you can replace up to 75% of your existing water if necessary.
Remove and save a few handfulls of sand from the top 1" layer of the old sandbed.
Remove the LR for the time being. If you have room in the tank, you could shift all the LR to one side of the tank, do one side, then shift the LR to the other side of the tank and do that side.
Syphon out the old sand bed, removing as little water as possible. Do not add water removed back into the system.
Add the new sandbed, using the washed material.
Replace the LR.
Use the few handfulls of sand to seed the new sandbed.
Refill the tank with the new water you mixed.
This is quite a project. So make sure you really want and need to do it first.
prow
Well-Known Member
change it all, best is aragonite. the grain size is more a matter of choice. use fine grain for shorter sandbeds and to keep fish like gobies happy. a lot of debate about the grain size and the denitrification effects of each. lots to read up on about the grain size. you will not have to start all over, your rock is good just keep it that way. store in a rubbermaid tube with good SG, ph and temp while your adding the new sand. after returning the rock it will seed your sand, you should be good to go within a month, not at least.
Adnuces
Member
I would do it all at once. I have heard that you can put some of the cc into a nylon stocking and place this in the tank to help seed the new sandbed. Though it won't take long to seed it from your live rock etc.......good luck it is a big job but one that can be done successfully, many have done it.
Cougra
Well-Known Member
I would recommend removing it all before adding the new substrate. This way you can make sure you get all the detritus out of the tank before covering it up with new substrate.
When I removed my substrate, I removed it all at once. I found it fairly straight forward to do and it gave me the opertunity to rearrange everything in my tank.
Here is a link to the step by step process I went through to remove the CC.
http://www.fishtanksandponds.info/live-stock/marine/substratechange.htm
You'll see how dirty the water got when I was removing the CC. I wouldn't want to ahve that sticking around in the tank, even with full skimming and additional filters there was just too much gunk released during the substrate change. If I have to do it again, I'll make the changes all at once and make sure I give the rocks a good scubbing/rincing as well.
When I removed my substrate, I removed it all at once. I found it fairly straight forward to do and it gave me the opertunity to rearrange everything in my tank.
Here is a link to the step by step process I went through to remove the CC.
http://www.fishtanksandponds.info/live-stock/marine/substratechange.htm
You'll see how dirty the water got when I was removing the CC. I wouldn't want to ahve that sticking around in the tank, even with full skimming and additional filters there was just too much gunk released during the substrate change. If I have to do it again, I'll make the changes all at once and make sure I give the rocks a good scubbing/rincing as well.
mempho reefer
Member
I changed mine recently. I went from a CC UG filter to DSB. I did like Michelle...all at once. I scrubbed the rock, cleaned the tank, powerheads, and skimmer. I used a fine sand but not sure the grain size. Do know that your sandbed will need to cycle. My trAtes shot to 40 ppm for a couple of days and then held to 20 ppm for about three weeks and that was with frequent water changes. It's been just over 45 days now and I'm still at 5-10 ppm. I've since added two fighting conchs and 10 nassarius snails to help stir the top of the bed. I should be nearing 0 trAtes in the next week or two. Unfortunately, I'm moving into a new house in at the end of July so I don't know what's going to happen then. Although I do plan to move the tank by removing everything from it except the DSB.
Stalwart
Active Member
The crushed coral is older, but it has only been in this tank for 3 weeks, I am not too worried about stirring up any bad pockets.
I think the crushed coral/sand is contributing to my 5-10 nitrate readings, I want 0. THe CC/Sand mix is only 1 to 2 inches deep.
I think the sand is a bit more pleasing to the eye as well.
I have three 25 gallon rubbermaids, I could use them to remove the rock and fish.
Then suck out the old strate and pour in the new, about 3 inches.
I will use a stocking to filter out some of the old sand to put back in for reseeding.
Scrub the rocks that I can in the old water in the tubs then rescape and restock.
Sound like a plan? Any other suggestions?
I think the crushed coral/sand is contributing to my 5-10 nitrate readings, I want 0. THe CC/Sand mix is only 1 to 2 inches deep.
I think the sand is a bit more pleasing to the eye as well.
I have three 25 gallon rubbermaids, I could use them to remove the rock and fish.
Then suck out the old strate and pour in the new, about 3 inches.
I will use a stocking to filter out some of the old sand to put back in for reseeding.
Scrub the rocks that I can in the old water in the tubs then rescape and restock.
Sound like a plan? Any other suggestions?