Adding Southdown Sand

[txrunning1]

I am a brand new at the saltwater hobby. I have recently acquired a 75 gal tank and 80 lbs of Marshal Island lr. The tank has been running for about 6 years. There are some inverts, and a few pieces of coral. However, there is no dsb.I have also recently gotten some Southdown sand. How do I add the sand with my lr already in the tank. I just moved it yesterday, so I don't mind changing/moving the rock around. But I do want to add the sand (before I add any thing else to my tank). Any suggestions would be helpful. Thanks

 

[thereefman52]

to add the sand.. It will make the water Mud! for about 3 days, so everything needs to be removed, or there is a great chance it will all die do to suffocation. I recently added 100 lbs SD and had everything out of the tank for about 3 days

 

[diatom]

Tx, just add the sand as slowly as is possible..Turn off your powerheads and it will settle. Some people use a piece of PVC pipe filling it at the top and lifting it and moving it around the bottom to disturb the sand as little as possible.
You do not need to remove anything from the tank, nothing will suffocte. What happens in the ocean when a storm kicks up sand?
Good luck with the tank, it sounds like a nice setup.

 

[thereefman52]

I am telling you, i did this.. and it is not like when you stir your bottom up and it takes a couple hours to settle.. Nope.. if you put your finger in the tank after you do this and even push it on the glass.. you wont see it!!! but do what you would like...

 

[mr . salty]

Reefman,once again is WRONG here.Sure there will be clouding,but it is not a death sentance to everything in the tank...This cloud can be cleared quite quickly if you use a micro/polishing filter..You can also soak this sand in buckets for a day or so,This will ensure that the sand settles more quickly.Pouring it down a 3or 4 inch diameter pvc pipe will also help reduce this clouding by adding it ditrectly to the bottom of the tank...

 

[thereefman52]

Hey SORRY!!! there bro.. but he asked a question.. i told him MY ANSWER.. dont tell me im "WRONG" when i did this in my tank and it happened

 

[class clown]

Reefman, Salty didn't argue the part about the clouding of the tank. He agrees with you there. He just said that the clouding of the water will NOT kill everything in your tank. You did NOT experience this part as you stated, because you removed your fish and put them in a bucket. If I remember correctly, that's why all your fish died; it wasn't because of sand clouding your tank.

 

[thereefman52]

Hey class clown.. why dont you go up and READ what I wrote.. i didnt say thats why my fish died but if they were in MY tank at THAT time.. they would have tho, maybe you tank didnt get as cloudy as mine.. but if it should get like mine with fish in it.. good luck

 

[justchillin]

i actually had a PH come loose while i was at work and it blew my dsb (southdown) all over the tank with my eel in it and it took about 3 days to settle back down after i cut it off but the eel seemed no worse for it...
i like mr. salty's plan (soak it in buckets ahead of time), or just add it slowly and leave everything in there with the PH off and after about 3 days turn on your skimmer (if you have one)...
that's what i've always done anyways...

 

[thereefman52]

yea and after the 3 days when you turn your regular filter back on.. buy a bag of filter floss from LFS for about 2 buks.. but a lot of it so the water goes through it.. THEN through your filter.. you can throw the floss out.. this helps save expensive filters.. and works GREAT!

 

[mr . salty]

Natures ocean is all I have ever added too my tank.6 bags in all.120lbsIt is without a doubt worth the extra money.