Switching sand beds. will this cause a cycle?

[new reefer 03]

i've been getting more serious about a bigger tank, and when i get my big tank i have many hopes. one includes to treat my fish of ich, and QT all new inhabtants. the other is do have a sand sifter (BSJ). in order to have one of those i came to the conclusion that i need sand small enough for them to sift. i currently have this in my tank, and it has some shells to show how big it is.
Marine Substrates: Ocean Direct Caribbean Live Sand at Drs. Foster & Smith ( Origional Grade )
now i assume that any sand sifter cannot get that stuff in their mouth, and out their gills. so when i upgrade my tank i plan on using some sugar grain sized sand (non live?) and Marine Reef Aquarium Substrates: Arag-Alive (Fiji Pink). if i switched the sand beds when switching tanks would that cause a cycle?


Second Question:
could i add some sugar sized ( not live? ), or Fiji pink live sand to my current tank? i dont want to mix it in, because i want my sand sifter to be able to sift it. would that work?

 

[Varga]

BSJF is not really a sand sifter. It is more like a Burrow maker. It will not go around and clean your sand it it can move some pretty big pieces.

 

[Dentoid]

These questions just keep getting more and more complex and convoluted.

First what do you mean by BSJ?

Second, if you are upgrading to a bigger tank and moving all the rock and sand from the old to the new and adding new sand, there may be a small cycle, but one that is probably quickly taken care of by the old LR. If you plan on adding new LR to beef up your old LR, then there is a much greater chance for a cycle.

Third, you can add new sand to an old sand bed, but it has to be done slowly. I have read that a 1/4" per month, or something like that. This allows the microfauna to migrate up into the new sand and allows it to populate with bacteria. Adding too much sand can smother the microfauna in the sand bed leading to a crash.

 

[reefer4200]

as Varga stated the BSJF will not sift the sand like a diamond goby, nassarius snails, etc they will stir the sand or rumble around their home

 

[ncarpenter72]

I switched my sand out last summer from crushed coral to live argonite. I slowly removed the coral until I got down to bare bottom. I then added the new sand slowly over the course of 2 months. I carefully monitored the NH4, NO2 and NO3 levels. I did have a small increase in NO3 which are normally test 0. I made sure I did larger water changes every week during the change out. I also monitored the corals and fish for stress with a QT ready if necessary. All in all it went without a hitch. We then purchased a diamond goby, who keeps our sand very clean. As an added bonus it is one of the most interesting fish to watch in our tank.

 

[new reefer 03]

dont really need a "sand sifter" i dont think. just some one to keep the top clean. i have nasarious snails for the middle sand. i guess i thouht BSJF would be sifters seeing them make their burrows im probably not ready for a BSJF, due to them being jumpers and me having 2" of free space in the back of my tank, since my skimmer, and filter are there.
i do need an anti jumper that can keep the top "layer" clean. i would probably add some sugar sized non live, or a bag of live fiji sand. (which would you do?) so it can sift it. Thanks

 

[yungreefer2410]

live sand isnt really live. some of the bacteria and stuff might survive but most wont. if you want different sand when you switch tanks use some of your old sand to seed the new. when i moved my sand got stirred up. so i left my one fish and coral in there 5g bucket with a ph overnight while the sand settled in the tank. morning came and i transfered everything no problems

 

[new reefer 03]

cool, i think i may add some sugar sized sand over my current sand, and not mix it in. anything wrong with not mixing it in?? ive heard your supposed to, but i want the sifter to be able to sift my sand.

guess i wont be upgrading right away anyway.

 

[dianezoo]

When I changed out my sand, I got the fauna into the new sand by placing it in (dont laugh)cut off section of nylon stocking and put that in my tank to "seed" while keeping it contained. Worked well. I gradually moved out old sand and new sand was already injected with miro fauna and contained to move where I wanted it. OK so people lookingat my tank said what the heck is that!!! If you have a sump put er there. If you want to just add sand use a long tube and drop the sand into the bottom through the tube to have less sand smoke and stirred up stuff.

 

[new reefer 03]

When I changed out my sand, I got the fauna into the new sand by placing it in (dont laugh)cut off section of nylon stocking and put that in my tank to "seed" while keeping it contained. Worked well. I gradually moved out old sand and new sand was already injected with miro fauna and contained to move where I wanted it. OK so people lookingat my tank said what the heck is that!!! If you have a sump put er there. If you want to just add sand use a long tube and drop the sand into the bottom through the tube to have less sand smoke and stirred up stuff.

i dont really want to ditch my current sand. Right now im just thinking about adding sand to my current sand. i want it to be a little deeper, and to support a sifter. if i put sugar sized sand over my shell sized ugly sand im hoping the crap will grow ontop of the sugar sized sand, and the sifter can clean it up for me, or would it grow under the sugar sized sand on top of the old sand?
just because its cheaper, i was thinking some sugar sized sand.

 

[michael_cb_125]

This is the sand that I use in all my tanks. It is "live" with bacteria, and perfectly sized.

Marine Substrates: Ocean Direct Caribbean Live Sand at Drs. Foster & Smith

~Michael

 

[lcstorc]

The more coarse sand will rise to the top. I have added sand to an existing sand bed several times with no issue.
No stirring the sand bed can be a different story depending on how deep and how old the existing one is.

 

[new reefer 03]

michae did you use the origional or the oolite? uploading soem pics (phone ) to show how big my origional grade is.

The more coarse sand will rise to the top. I have added sand to an existing sand bed several times with no issue.
No stirring the sand bed can be a different story depending on how deep and how old the existing one is.

my current sand bed is 40#s of the origional grade ( link above ) and ??# of an unkown sand before i bought the tank. sand bed is 2" lowest point, 2.75" highest. probably 80% of it is at 2.5". i would most likely get a 20# bag of the fiji pink, i dont want to risk something not aquarium intended.
whats the story on not stirring it?
when you added sand to an existing sand bed was it the same size?

 

[new reefer 03]

pics of the origional grade.

Reference.

 

[lcstorc]

I have added 3 or 4 kinds of sand to my original CC in the 125. You can see the layers where the smallest stuff is on the bottom and the CC is on the top.
As far as not stirring that is a mature sand bed. There are various de-nitifying bacteia in a DSB that can release sulpher when disturbed. Yours is way to young to be a problem.

 

[new reefer 03]

so honestly added anything right now will just make my sand bed deeper, not make it "siftable"

 

[lcstorc]

Not sure what you mean by siftable. I have a number of sand sifting critters including a sand sifting star. The star was actualy there when it was just CC. I'm not sure I would put a jawfish in but even that really may be fine. I've just not tried it.

 

[new reefer 03]

sorry, by siftable i mean like a diamond goby (or fish that does the same thing ) can sift it. i dont feel a star could navigate through my sand. some of my rock is near the glass. theres only one area a star could really sift my sand, its the general area my plate is in. it just seems like putting a star in my tank would be like putting a tang in a 20g

 

[dianezoo]

sometimes those sifting fishes can be a real pain for your corals. They may just start depositing mouthfulls as they cruz over your prized peice and dump sand on it through their gills. I had one that did that. Very anoying to the coral.