Just swapped my CC to southdown sand and . . . (1 Viewer)

[Guest]

I just swapped my 3 year old crushed coral to 1 inch of southdown tropical play sand and what a pain in the you know what -- back , literally. It's a lot of work but I got a couple of things accomplished: I got rid of my CC; and I finally caught that damsel and large yellow tang traded them.

The muck that came out of that crushed corals looks as dark as the skimmate of my ER skimmer. Now my skimmer seems like it's not producing as much. Wonder why? Has anyone here done this and noticed the same thing?

Also, I have 55 lbs of dry base rocks from reeferrocks.com on it's way. I got a picture of it before they shipped it and I can't wait. Now, I can redo my aquascape.

All I need now are more FRAGS. Anybody got any?

 

[Guest]

8O FRAG SWAP!!! 8O

Seriously, your skimmer won't produce skimmate unless the proteins are there to skim, err...something like that, anyway. Just like after a good cleaning and hefty water change, the dirty stuff just isn't there.

The biggest pain in changing the substrate is the dust storm from the newly introduced sandbed. However, if you go against some conventional wisdom, and rinse your sand beforehand, that will not be a problem.

 

[Guest]

Well, I didn't go against conventional wisdom. I didn't rinse. The sand storm was there but by the end of the evening, it's clear again. I read somewhere that if you have an established tank, the bacteria will attach to the sand particles and weigh them down.

I actually have the same experience when I connected my refugium. Didn't take long to clear. What bothers me now is that southdown sand is so fine that I get mini-sand storm every time I clean the glass.

 

[Guest]

I happen to think that the conventional wisdom is a load of crap, but that's a different story for a different day.

The smaller particles will eventually work their way into your substrate and the mini-sand storm problem will go away. Think of a bag of chips. If you shake it, all the big chips come to the top, the crumbs go to the bottom. The same will happen to your sandbed.

Just a thought: if you didn't seed your sandbed with some of your old substrate, you will need to introduce some live sand to your southdown, otherwise you may be in for a cycle. 8O

 

[Guest]

Basically, your crushed coral had a lot of space in between each grain, so there was probably a lot of detritus in the bed, which caused your skimmer to work harder. The sand obviously is more dense then CC so, you will have let detritus in the sand bed, so manually "cleaning" your sand bed will be unnecessary in the future if you have a good clean up crew. You will on the other hand have a new cycle to go through if you didn't keep any of your original substrate. You could have mixed the two together, and eventually over time your CC and san will be absorbed into your tank environment.

 

[Guest]

Back before the board died, I outlined a way to seed your new sandbed with your old CC substrate, using nylon "footballs" full of CC in with your new sandbed. After a week or so, just remove the footballs and you are done.

I hope I can find the article that details this. I'll post the link as soon as I find it.

 

[Guest]

well..

IMO..... Ahh nevermind...... 8O
Dont wanna piss off the new school......

 

[Cakepro]

Rinse sand? LOL! That's nutty.

If your tank was empty, you can avoid any kind of sandstorm by simply placing a plate on the sand and pouring your water onto the plate slowly. I filled up both of my 75 gallons tanks with a maxi-jet 1200 on a plate and the water was clear.

You can also lay a layer of plastic sheeting on top of the sand and fill on a plate, too.

Sorry this came too late to help you, but it sounds like you have it under control. I've read about people on RC not being able to see into their tanks for days. 8O

~ Sherri

 

[Guest]

I like to call that the Galveston Effect

 

[Guest]

Thanks for all the replies 8)

I don't think I'll go through another cycle (at least I hope not). I have a 65 gal display tank (36wx18dx24h) BUT in the same water system, there is a 50gallon refugium with a 9inch DSB (southdown sand + some LR) that has a thriving population of pods, worms, snails, caulerpa, etc. Also in the same water system is a 30gallon sump where I keep my equipment. Also in the same water system is a 30gallon rubbermaid tub - just so I can add water volume.

I actually do a 30gallon water change once a month. The 30gallon rubbermaid tub can be taken out of circulation by turning 2 ball valves. then I change that 30 gallon.

I guess I got carried away babbling about my tank. You know how it is.

Oh by the way, my 55lbs of base rocks from reeferrocks.com arrived today. All I can say is WOW 8O . Nice rocks.