Changed CC to Sand, Have a Few Questions

[psyparrot]

I spent most of the day changing the CC I had in my tank to a sand bed. I wish I had started w/ sand

I reviewed the arguments for both sand and CC and decided to change to sand. I finally finished and when the dust settled the tank looks much nicer now

(also gave me a chance to really clean the tank

)
Now that I have the sand, I was wondering about a few things:
Do I still have to vacuum? (I know that if I do it'll be much less than before, but will some debris get trapped still?)
Do I have to supplement calcium if I get corals? (I heard that the CC provided enough calcium, but will sand?)
What are the best sand shifters/cleaners for a 29 gallon?
Thanks for the help

 

[scotts]

No you will not have to vacuum, that is what the sand is for, to have the good critters and bacteria that break down the waste in your tank.
Yes you will have to supplement Ca.
As far as sand shifters/cleaners, I am really enjoying my twin spot goby, sometimes called a four wheel goby.

 

[falynharris]

Hey we are trying to do the same thing.... what did you use to change it out?!?!?!?!?

 

[psyparrot]

Changing it out was a pain

, but it was well worth it (tank looks sooo much better)
Hewres a good thread with advice on how to make the change: https://forums.saltwaterfish.com/t/170311/crushed-coral-want-to-get-rid-of-it
What I did was to take an ice chest, a few trash can and rinse them out. I put all the LR and livestock in the ice chest and put the filter in their to give them circulation. Then I drained any of the spare water into the trash cans till only the CC remained in the tank. I scooped up the top layer of CC and put it in a stocking, to help prevent a new cycle.
Then I cleaned the tank, set it up like it was before, poured in the sand. I then poured all the excess water from the trash cans into the tanks, and let the dust kicked up from the sand settle a little, before putting the LR, inverts and fish back in. I finished with putting the filter back in the tanks and pouring all the ice chest water back in.
I only did it yesterday, but so far no loses

 

[slowburn22]

Sounds like a success to me. Just wanted to comment on sand shifters... I personally like Nassarius Snails. I have a 29 and use 5 Large and 10 Small Nassarius snails. They turn over the sand pretty good. You could also use a Cucumber, but I have no personal experince with them so I'll let someone else comment on that. One you might want to stay away from is sand sifting gobies... I always hear how they pick up sand and spit it all over the LR.
I actually have a qestion for you though... Does your fuzzy dwarf crap a lot? Ever since I got mine I noticed fish poop rolling around on the bottom of the tank like tumbleweeds - I might be due for a cucumber myself...

 

[psyparrot]

What do you feed it and how often? I haven't noticed an unusual amount of waste, but I feed it daily w/ brine shrimp. If you feed it less frequently w/ larger meals, maybe it digests it worse, or maybe the waste is just more in one pile.
I'm just guessing, and you should probably ask in the aggressive fish forum, they would know better.
Oh and I had a 4 wheel drive goby (two spot goby, but I love the 4 wheel drive name

)). It used to build caves out of the CC, but then one day (after about 2-3 weeks) it just disappeared.
And one more thing: Do sand sifters destroy the bacteria you want in your tank?
Thanks for all the posts

 

[slowburn22]

No, they wont destroy your bacteria... You need something to stir the sand so you dont get stagnant areas.
Mine eats frozen mysis/shrimp/scallops/ocean perch every 2-3 days. Brine shrimp is a really bad food to feed your lion. Apparently it has little to no nutritional value - pretty much like us eating rice all the time. You should do a search on getting yours to eat off of a feeder stick. I'm still trying to train mine. I almost got her to eat out of my fingers last night - ALMOST...

 

[psyparrot]

I tried feeding her (mine is a she too) shrimp and krill tied to a string but so far to no success. I'm going to try again and hope it works this time.
Oh and I try and feed her both normal brine shrimp and enriched brine shrimp to give it some nutrients. So far she has been fine (I'll have had her for a year in August). She will feed fine during the day, as long as the lights are off.
As for the goby, I think I might get it, because right now I have in a 29 gallon:
1 Fuzzy Dwarf Lionfish
1 Ocellaris Clown
1 Firefish
1 Lawnmower Blennie
Why are sand shifters (like seastars) more wanted then sand sifters (like gobys) when it comes to sand cleaning?

 

[slowburn22]

Im suprised that you still have a firefish. Mine disappeared a couple weeks ago. Right now I've just got a Coral Beauty with her and a Scooter Dragonet. There are also 3 green chromis as "feeders" that started as a group of 6.
I really dont know about the starfish. I dont use them. All I use is Nassarius snails. Like I said about the gobys - they usually only pick up small ammounts of sand from the top of the sandbed, and most people complain that they spit it all over their LR and corals.

 

[psyparrot]

I've only had the firefish about a month and the blennie about a week, so I hope they don't get eaten.
I'll try and see the different sand cleaners and what people have said about them and if I don't answer my questions will probably make a thread asking about it
Oh and FalynHarris you might want to keep a little extra water around when you go from CC to sand, because you will lose some during the change
Thanks for all your help guys

 

[slowburn22]

My firefish slept in a hole in the rockwork at night. I think the lion caught him coming or going and gobbled him up. I think your blenny should be fine. They are pretty bold and those guys get to be a decent size.
Good luck!

 

[sly]

If you ever need to move your tank, prepare for your tank to cycle. I have moved my tank 4 times (unfortunately) and have never had a crash or a cycle with CC.

 

[petjunkie]

Sandsifter stars are usually a bad idea as they eat all the good stuff in your sandbed and then starve. Gobies only toss the top layer and may throw it all over your rocks and bottom dwelling corals. Nass. snails seem to work hard, them and bristleworms keep my sandbed stirred and hermits keep the top layer moving around.