CC to DSB, but there is a TWIST!!

[option720]

I know this has been discussed before but I want to take a different approach. I am going to switch over to a 3.5 in DSB from CC later this month. But here is the twist, my CC has tons of life in it (pods, worms, etc.) and I don’t want to lose any of it. Can I push all my cc to one half of the tank, put a divider in there and put all the sand in the other half? For a while there would be a 7 inch base of substrates (half cc, half sand), but that would allow the life from the CC to move in to the sand. Each day or so I would take a cup of CC out. My thoughts are that I would eliminate the tank from cycling and have live sand after a month or so. Is this crazy…to complicated…what are your thoughts.

 

[guppie]

have you ever thought about just putting the sand on top of the cc, I have a tank that I did that and it has worked out great. Good Luck

 

[diatom]

My recomendation would be against adding the sand on top of the cc.
Firstly adding anything over an inch of sand at a time will kill most of the critters in the cc. Second CC is to large of a grain for an affective sand bed. Finally the cc will work it's way to the top armoring the top of the sand bed.
YOu can certail add half now and half later or you could scoops it up in nylons and place it on top of your new sand bed for a while and let the critters migrate into the sand.

 

[ed d]

option720
I am about to do the same thing for the same reason. I have crushed coral with a lot of life in it that I rather not lose. My plan is to remove the undergravel filter, Push most of the gravel to one side, then put sand in on the other side. Finally, I will slowly remove all of the CC an add sand as needed.
The hope is the life will move from the CC to the sand.
If you put the sand on top of the CC, The CC will keep finding its way to the top.
Good luck!! Keep us up to date on you progress.

 

[hondo]

Try putting some of the cc in a nylon or mesh bag and leave it sit on top of the DSB for a week. The life in the CC will move directly to the DSB. This way you only change the substrate once as apposed to doing half cc half sand and then going back and changing the remaining cc to sand.

 

[option720]

Hondo-
What type of substrate do you have on your tank? When the time come...would you maybe want to swap some sand (once mine becomes live)? since you live in LO too.

 

[ivan]

i had 40p of cc and 40p of live sand at first i liked the set up and later i hated it, i wanted all sand. today i removed all the cc and left as mush sand as i could and added 60 more pounds of sand. i realy recomend to add sand and get rid of the cc. the cc is only a nitrate factory. i didn't have any nitrates in my tank but i removed it so i didn't have future problems. also for some reason algea grew all over the cc and not the sand.about the criters i didn't have any i have or had a britle worm, but i have only seen it one time and that was 2 months ago the rest of the life is on my rocks.

 

[fshhub]

should work ok, others have been successful by doing quarter chanes the same way, with divider, just chnging 25% at a time over a couple of weeks

 

[hondo]

Option720
I have a 2 1/2 in sand bed in one and a 3 1/2 in sand bed in another. I used a mix of dry sand and natures ocean live sand purchased locally (very expensive in the local LFS) I started out with cc as I fell pray to bad LFS advice. I switched to sand beds 3 months ago and two months ago on the second tank. It's definitely the way to go. I would be happy to give you some sand when the time comes though to be honest it's not really neccessary as if you put some of your cc in a nylon or mesh bag and let it sit in the tank for a week your "critters" will move to the sand bed, not to mention the high number of critters that live in your live rock which will quickly repopulate your new sand bed.