Adding live sand to existing bed

lucyloo

lucyloo

New Member
Wasn't sure if this was the right spot for this question or not... Sorry if I am mistaken!
I have a 20g high with about 2 - 2 1/2" of sand already in it. The tank has been set up for about 2 1/2 years now. I very rarely do anything to disturb the sand.
I was considering adding some live sand to make the bed deeper. I found some on a "popular online bidding site" - 30 pounds with rock fragments, critters, etc.
My question is:
Is this a bad idea? (Buying live sand online, or adding new sand on top of old - either one!) Is this something I can do to "refresh" my system?
If it's not a bad idea, how would I go about getting the new sand into the tank? Scoop it on a little at a time, or clear all the tank inhabitants from the bottom and just scoop cupfulls on, starting a new layer?
 
A

alexmir

Guest
I cant answer the question of i being a bad idea or not. But if you did decide to do it i would reccommend filling a small cup with the sand and covering it with cling wrap. Make sure that it is on there tight. bring the cup to the bottom of the tank and place the wrap and open side of the cup onto the sand, then just slowly slide out the cling wrap and VERY slowly pull the cup up just enough that it starts to come out.
I am not an expert, but i think this would be the best way to keep from causing too much stir up in such a small tank.

Good luck
 
ducky

ducky

Member
I am planning on increasing my sand bed and will be adding it via a 2" pvc pipe and a funnel. I am not adding live sand but dry sugar sand since my sand bed will seed the new sand. Here is a great article about DSBs .
I would be very hesitant to buy "live sand" that is not prepackaged from a reputable supplier. There are just too many variables. You could possibly introduce isopods or flatworms or something similar. I have a bin outside full of sand from when my tank flooded. I could call it "live sand" and to some degree it is as I am sure there is lots of bacteria still breaking down all of the die off since it was removed from the tank however there is no way I would put it in my tank. It would probably crash my system. The only way to make it usable again would be to wash it several times and then bake it to kill off everything in it. That of course is more trouble than it is worth to me so I will buy new sand. You never know though, I might some day get around to baking 100lbs of sand but not this week.
 
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