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I agree completely with Jackson's post. I would just like to point out that the DSB does not have to be made from all live sand as I inferred you thought from your post. That is unnecessary and VERY expensive. Start with 4" of very fine dry/dead sand and then add whatever fine live sand...

The posts above are giving you very good advice. I strongly recommend following it. Good luck with it.

If you have caught them and want to get rid of them, 3/4 of the people on this site might be willing to pay the shipping cost and more to get them. I know that I would for any under 4". Traps may be the easiest way to catch them. I really would recommend keeping them yourself.

Mine is another point of view. I recommend the "claws free" approach. I would not use any crabs or shrimp. Snails are good, but don't go overboard on the quantities or they will starve in a few weeks when the algae is gone. Fighting conchs are good for the sandbed surface. The Queen conch...

The larger sand particles will work to the surface. If you put fine grains on top, they move to the bottom because they sift in between the larger pieces. The larger pieces cannot move down because they are not as dense and do not fit into any openings. Fine sand is the best, but it does stir...

Is this a fully cycled tank in which you changed out the substrate to create a DSB? The sand will eventually settle. If it sticks to the front glass you may want to wipe that off with a paper towel. If it settles on rocks or corals, use a turkey baster to blow it carefully off. If the tank...

If you now have a DSB, I highly recommend that you get rid of the bioballs. If you decide to keep the wet/dry, think of it as a nice sump. You can use it for your return pump, heater, and skimmer. Bioballs will accummulate detrius and contibute greatly to a nitrate problem.

I know you specified rather small fish that do not get a lot bigger, but it always best to plan the fish load based upon the adult sizes. For example, a cute 1" clownfish should be counted as a 4" fish, if that is the expected adult size. The 3-4 2" number given above is conservative, but a...

Aragonite sand comes in various sizes. Make sure to read the label so you don't end up with the larger sizes. One good one is labeled sugar-size. Go to their (caribsea) web site and look at the product catalog. You will see various Aragonite based products. Smaller is better, and probably...

Did you change anything? Have you used any additives? Did you do a water change? Has any creature died or disappeared? Have you rechecked the test? Sometimes an error in the reading can occur. Some test kits are better than others. The 8.2 reading would not have been a concern, had it not...

Since I no longer keep any hermit crabs, I remove the shells when I get a chance. Unless the tank is very small, I don't think the death of one snail is a cause for concern. My Nassarius snails and bristle worms make short work of any carcasses. Unless I just about see it die, the shell is...

CC and Aragonite are different materials, but may be the same size. As CC is made by breaking larger pieces, it generally has sharper edges. The critical feature in choosing material for a DSB is the grain size, not the material. You want a very small grain, .2-1.2 millimeters. If you...

I would not use a mechanical filter even on a new tank, especially if it is to be a reef tank. The biological filtration does need to build up in a new tank. That is what occurs during the initial nitrogen bacteria cycle you read so much about. A mechanical filter does not take the place of...

I have been using eFishTank. See this link. <a href="http://www.aquaserve.com/WetNet/default.asp" target="_blank">http://www.aquaserve.com/WetNet/default.asp</a> I have been happy with it. I think it is free. I signed up for something that was $12/year, but I think that was optional.

I find that the healthy polyps attach very quickly (like within days). They also seem to be pretty tough. My brittle star pulled a loose patch (this patch was on the sand) under his rock. I recovered some of it and put it on a rock. It opened the next day, but he pulled it down again the...

Good news. Thanks. I now see the post that it is complete.

I think 1-2 fish in a 50g with a lot of corals is a great approach. I think you could be successful with zero fish, but a couple make interesting additions. I am planning on a pair of clowns in my 55g. Whether I ever add a third fish is yet to be determined. Good luck with your tank. I am...

Congratulations! I am sure you will be pleased with it. I look forward to seeing the pictures.

cmpowell, Is the swap going ok? What did you decide? The sizes that NM Reef noted from the web site don't sound too bad. It sounds smaller than the crushed coral I have seen and used before I went to the new DSB. I hope some of your sand is in the smaller sizes. I am just going, in part, by...

I am sorry. I was making an assumption that dumping salt onto the freshwater substrate would be likely to kill everything that was in there. Perhaps I was wrong. I would think that where the salt hits becomes extremely high in salinity and then drops as the salt is distributed throughout the...