Issues concerning a DSB switch....

[BEELZEBOB]

so im moving my tank on WED.

gettin 3 5gallon buckets.

2 for old water, 1 for a new batch im mixing tonight.

corals and my firefish will be bagged individually.

Bane and his hollow home rock will geta 2 gallon bucket.

once the tank is empty, im going to dump the black DSB, and switch it out for a 30lb bag of Caribsea white aragonite sand.


here is my issue.

i dont have an RO/DI. i just buy gallons of FW RO/DI from the grocery and mix it myself

the sand, needs to be washed prior to me putting it in my tank.

can i wash it really well with tap water, then rinse it w/ a gallon or 2 of the RO/DI?

this has all gotta go down in one day. and the cloudy water do to the new sand was an aspect i didnt take into account...

how do i fix/solve this?

[lcstorc]

Even if you rinse the sand it is likely going to be cloudy. At least mine was. Not sure about the tap water. I would think that as long as you let it sit long enough for the chlorine to dissipate it would be ok. You might get a diatom or other algae bloom but I can't really think of anything else.

[Witfull]

add the sand without rinsing to the EMPTY tank. place a saucer your plate in the tank and slowly and gently pour the salt water onto the plate. this will allow the water to fill without disturbing the sand to much minimizing the storm cloud.

i would save some of the old sand to seed the new. if you dont want to mix colors, get an old pantyhose and add the sand into it and plop it in the overflow or filter chamber.

[DAHansen]

Option 1:

Can you fit the sand in one 5 gallon bucket, and do you have a hose?

Put the bucket in the tub, put the hose in the bucket with the nozzle on the bottom of the bucket. Turn it on medium or so, and start filling it with sand. The water will both rinse the sand as it is added, then pull the "cloudy crap" out with it as it overflows.

You may want a fine net to catch the floaty bits that are inevitably there, or let them go down the tub if they aren't too many.

As for chlorine and crap, I would add some amquel.


Option 2 (How I did it last time):

Put sand in empty tank. Add most of the water. Run a very fine filtered canister or HOB filter for as long as possible before adding live stock - to catch the larger particulate.

Everything came out OK when I did it this way back in March. The fish were swimming in cloudy water, but they didn't seem the worse for wear because of it. In my defense, I too was on a very short timeline for the switch over.

[lcstorc]

Originally Posted by Witfull

add the sand without rinsing to the EMPTY tank. place a saucer your plate in the tank and slowly and gently pour the salt water onto the plate. this will allow the water to fill without disturbing the sand to much minimizing the storm cloud.

i would save some of the old sand to seed the new. if you dont want to mix colors, get an old pantyhose and add the sand into it and plop it in the overflow or filter chamber.

What makes you think Bob has old pantyhose?

[BEELZEBOB]

i have a few random panties layin around, but no pantyhose

[Witfull]

wild guess~

[BEELZEBOB]

so it sounds like the issue with cleaning the sand is purley asthetic?

no advers effects on corals and other inhabitants to be put in a tank with exteme new sand murk?

i like the idea of putting the sand into a 5g bucket and just letting the shower run in it for a few hours....

hmmm what would y'all do?

[BigJay]

If you already have water in the tank you can feed the sand down a pvc pipe. Kind of hold the pipe vertically but the bottom flat on the bottom of the tank and fill it up and wait a few seconds and very slowly lift the pipe.
I just filled my 90g yesterday with semi fine sand and it was all settled within 8 hours and mostly clear after 6. And I just dumped it in from the top with all powerheads and and sump running and no pre-rinsing. They have the bio-clear or whatever its called thats suppose to help clear the tank relatively quickly.

[BEELZEBOB]

eh, as long as that dust aint gonna hurt my homies, id be adverse to adding any unneccesary chemicals....

[lcstorc]

When I moved the tank we had the fish in a 10g tank. The 90 was so cloudy when we finished that I left the fish in the 10 with an airstone overnight.

[BEELZEBOB]

i dont have that option, will the murkey water mess with my livestocks?

[lcstorc]

I doubt it but I am not really sure.

[DAHansen]

The only possibility I can see is that the fine sediment can accumulate on gills a bit - similar to breathing in a bunch of dust for a long period.

I wouldn't worry about corals or other inverts at all.

I like Witty's idea of the plate. I also remember reading somewhere (here likely) that someone used a towel to cover the sand before adding water, then gently removed it after most of the water was added.

Also if you have a fine enough fish net, you could scoop sand out of the bag, run it under the faucet in the tub/sink for 20 or thirty seconds, then throw it in a bucket. However, I really don't see a way to avoid completely having some cloudiness.

[Amphibious]

It really depends on the source and type of sand. If it's Carib Sea or some other "reef ready" or "live whatever" you can get by with out rinsing it but, use the plate or bag method to reduce clouding. I think the sand that Lynn is referring to is the Pure Bahamian Aragonite sand she got from me. That sand is straight from the Bahamas and has not been "processed" in any way. It is pure Aragonite sand and it is recommended to give it a good rinse and still use the plate or bag method. This stuff is fine, in more ways than one. It's the best sand for a DSB.

Dick