New sand??

Valhoon

Valhoon

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Okay so here's the deal. My tanks been up roughly 2 years now. It's a 120 with a 40b sump with fuge chamber with rock and chaeto in the fuge running a skimmer and a UV. Now my tank is admittedly kinda overstocked. If I wanted to change my sand to something I don't hate would i have a significant risk a crash if I suction out the thick ugly sand I have so I can replace with a sand that doesn't make me hate looking at my tank?

Thanks in advance!
 
Yes, and I recommend siphoning out the sand during a regular water change. I think that’s what you mean by ‘suction out’. Try to get all the nastiness that has built up in the sand too.

Also, you may find that some of the sand has formed concretions and essentially turned into live rock. Be careful not to accidentally break any glass.
 
OHHHHHHHHH I see now. and I misunderstood. And yeah that was gonna be my method of removal. via suction during waterchange. My bad I'm dumbdumb
 
Valhoon said:
OHHHHHHHHH I see now. and I misunderstood. And yeah that was gonna be my method of removal. via suction during waterchange. My bad I'm dumbdumb
Click to expand...
Also, take note to the comment about the sand. The sand starts to calcify. It did in my last tank that was only 2 years old. So, jus be careful when removing it to not damage your glass.
 
Sounds like you don't clean the sand regularly, I don't either, the CUC takes care of that. I wouldn't take it all out at once, I'll instead take out a portion every other week,(especially if u have sps). The sand is filled with junks, but those junks are loaded with beneficial bacteria. Taking them all out at once could cause an imbalance in the tank.

Sent from my SM-G975U using Tapatalk
 
4nreefer said:
Sounds like you don't clean the sand regularly, I don't either, the CUC takes care of that. I wouldn't take it all out at once, I'll instead take out a portion every other week,(especially if u have sps). The sand is filled with junks, but those junks are loaded with beneficial bacteria. Taking them all out at once could cause an imbalance in the tank.

Sent from my SM-G975U using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Well i do clean it... though maybe not as much as I should? but for me it's I don't like the sand it's self. the grain or the color.
 
4nreefer said:
Sounds like you don't clean the sand regularly, I don't either, the CUC takes care of that. I wouldn't take it all out at once, I'll instead take out a portion every other week,(especially if u have sps). The sand is filled with junks, but those junks are loaded with beneficial bacteria. Taking them all out at once could cause an imbalance in the tank.

Sent from my SM-G975U using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
This theory or idea has been debunked numerous times. Go search on R2R or RC, this same question has been posed for a decade now.
 
It may be dangerous. But you can mitigate any danger.

If you feel cautious; do it piecemeal, but try to minimize letting any smokey gunk get into your water column.

Not sure what dangers were covered in R2R; but there are two concerns I have. 1) stirring up excess gunk from the sand, which if you do it right, shouldn’t have much of an impact at all. 2) the reduction in nitrifying bacteria.

#2 may be a valid concern of yours. We do not know how overstocked your tank is, What the current parameters are, Your feeding regimen, nor the current amount of rock-based bacteria in there.
 
Yeah I'd rather just rip the band aid off in one swift go. I don't wanna risk that stuff getting into the column. Guess I'll be buying some sand this weekend and mixing up as much saltwater as I can. yaaaaaaay :Do_O:eek:
 
Valhoon said:
Yeah I'd rather just rip the band aid off in one swift go. I don't wanna risk that stuff getting into the column. Guess I'll be buying some sand this weekend and mixing up as much saltwater as I can. yaaaaaaay :Do_O:eek:
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Here is a great thread on it:
www.reef2reef.com

Official Sand Rinse and Tank Transfer thread

If you are reading this thread to cure a tank invasion from a link I sent you, we do not need to identify your type of invasion here we do not need you to test anything at anytime regarding nitrate, phosphate etc Above all, we do not need to see a microscope slide picture of your invasion at...
www.reef2reef.com www.reef2reef.com

Siphoning method should prevent any issues regarding the stirring of gunk. Considering you vacuum your sand regularly, you should have no issues.
 
ActiveAngel said:
It may be dangerous. But you can mitigate any danger.

If you feel cautious; do it piecemeal, but try to minimize letting any smokey gunk get into your water column.

Not sure what dangers were covered in R2R; but there are two concerns I have. 1) stirring up excess gunk from the sand, which if you do it right, shouldn’t have much of an impact at all. 2) the reduction in nitrifying bacteria.

#2 may be a valid concern of yours. We do not know how overstocked your tank is, What the current parameters are, Your feeding regimen, nor the current amount of rock-based bacteria in there.
Click to expand...


Ha, yeah the bacteria is a concern I have. Between my display and sump I prolly have about 160lb of rock in the system. And Between my trigger, puffer, and zebra eel and a couple medium fish pooping its pretty overstocked. and surprisingly I have ZERO ammonia or nitrite. Nitrate hangs about .15-.22 which isn't bad considering! and I feed pretty dang heavy but I also have a lot of random little critters living in the sump and display. (don't fret, they will be upgraded in a few months after i get moved to a much larger system! and im likely gonna be donating this 120 to a lucky beginning member after that happens)
 
Valhoon said:
Ha, yeah the bacteria is a concern I have. Between my display and sump I prolly have about 160lb of rock in the system. And Between my trigger, puffer, and zebra eel and a couple medium fish pooping its pretty overstocked. and surprisingly I have ZERO ammonia or nitrite. Nitrate hangs about .15-.22 which isn't bad considering! and I feed pretty dang heavy but I also have a lot of random little critters living in the sump and display. (don't fret, they will be upgraded in a few months after i get moved to a much larger system! and im likely gonna be donating this 120 to a lucky beginning member after that happens)
Click to expand...
Yeah, those nitrate numbers aren't bad at all. 160# is a good bit of rock. Reefing today doesn't require that much live rock anymore with all the biomedia options, but the amount of rock you have in a 120 should be plenty to suffice after sand removal to sustain enough bacteria.
 
civics14 said:
Yeah, those nitrate numbers aren't bad at all. 160# is a good bit of rock. Reefing today doesn't require that much live rock anymore with all the biomedia options, but the amount of rock you have in a 120 should be plenty to suffice after sand removal to sustain enough bacteria.
Click to expand...


it surprisingly doesn't look like it's that much rock I just layered it just right between two islands to maximize the surface space while not sacrificing valuable space for fish and coral. Plus what I have in the fuge.

#edit. I also run a large bashsea reactor with npx pellets
 
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