advice please...

dmm180

dmm180

New Member
I planned to change my tank from cc to sand this week, was going to do about a 3 inch bed with roughly 120 lbs of sand and 15 pounds of live sand for a little boost. I have a 55 gallon with approx 45 lbs of live rock.
my question is:
I plan to take the lr and fish out of the tank and stick them in a bucket during this change and for a few hours for the dust to settle.
Then I was going to do a significant water change with ro water I plan to purchase at lf store.
Finally I was going to rearrange the lr and add a few new fish.
I have already ordered them from this site and I expect them on Wed. I plan to do the water and sand change on Tuesday or Wed and add the fish back in as well as the new fish the next day.
Does this sound like a goog idea? Tank has been up and running without trouble for 9 months now.
Thanks for the imput.
Dawn
 
wablondie98664

wablondie98664

Active Member
sounds good. when you switch the crushed coral, save some of it and put it in a nylon and float it in your tank for about a month to save the bacteria and prevent a possible mini cycle
 
wwfstyle

wwfstyle

Member
I would just leave some cc in the tank and place the sand over it. I just added 75lbs of sand on tuesday. 25 of it was LS. Water was so muckey that I have now been able to arrange my LR on the 4th day of adding sand. What I did is place all my LR, corols, fish, crabs, shrimps in a seperate container with a powerhead in there to move water around. In my tank I turned off everything, sump, powerhead so that there was no movement. After the 3rd day I started to place half my LR (about 50lbs) in the tank and adding a live stock in to. Towards the end of the 3rd day I turned on my sump and placed a wash clothe in there to help catch some of the debrie, mostly floating sand. I did a 15% water change also. By the 4th day my water was nice a clean so I turned on my powerheads and some debrie came up but was gone really quick. Added the rest of my live stock in my 75 gal reef. I went about 60 lbs cc and 75 lbs of LS and that gave me a nice 4" bed. If I was you after this experence that I just had I would let your sand settle for a longer time than you predict it to be. TRUST ME it is going to be CLOUDY for a few days. So I wouldn't add any live stock till it clears.
 
dmm180

dmm180

New Member
I planned to keep my fish in a large container like a garbage can or something...should I pick up say a 10 gallon to keep them in for 2 days or so??
 
michelle13

michelle13

Member
You don't want to leave the cc in the tank. From what I understand the sand will settle down through the cc over time. When I changed mine it was only cloudy for a few hours. I took everything out then put my sand and live rock back in and then started putting water in. To keep the sand from getting stirred up I put a bowl in bottom of my tank and SLOWLY poured the water in it. When the water was at the height of my bowl I started trickling it down the LR. I only put about 5 gals of new water in during the whole process. I also took some of my cc and put it in pantyhose that I placed on the new sand. I was able to put my critters back in the tank within a couple of hours and the tank was crystal clear by morning. I had no cycle and lost no livestock. HTH and good luck!
 
aarone

aarone

Active Member
great idea, thanks. is it a good idea to keep it and start a small refugium with it??
CC will not do good ina refugium. You need some sort of aragonite for its bio-diversity, and for its buffering capability. The LS will help your little pods and other critters reproduce and flourish.
 
dreeves

dreeves

Active Member
CC is fine in a refuge...coral skeletons are pretty much calcium and buffer quite well...as for the pods...they do well in CC or sand...I have noticed with the pods though...in the CC they are in and out, around and over the CC pieces.
 
michaeltx

michaeltx

Moderator
second all that and as michelle13 said any CC left in the bottom of the tank will migrate over time to the top of the sand bed its best to remove all or nothing when it comes to that part.
Mike
 
dmm180

dmm180

New Member
thanks. all help is so appreciated...
can someone address my tank concern..what is the best thing to do with my lr and fish during this conversion?
 
michaeltx

michaeltx

Moderator
if you use buckets and such just keep the water moveing and the temp stable but get them back in the tank ASAP but they can stay there for a few days if need be ( I dont recomend that though if you can help it)
when switching over siphon out as much water as you can then take out the CC that way you willstill have the most of the original water to go back into the tank.
wet the sand as you put it in the tank this will help keep the sand storm done some. slowly add the water back in the tank and let it settle as much as possible before you scape the rocks. after it settle out readd the fish back into the tank.
Hope eveything goes well inthe switch though
Mike
 
michaeltx

michaeltx

Moderator
good point or least some LS in the mix.
I have 55 gallon trash cans that are food grade that are deticated to just the tank.
it really depends on what size fish you have I would determine a container size to fit them just in case the have to stay there for a couple days.
Mike
 
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