Changing from CC to LS

[zeldanlink]

I want to change the CC in my tank to Live Sand. I plan on purchasing the Live Aragonite Sand approx 40 pounds. Do I need to remove the CC in stages so as not to disrupt the bacteria too much or can I change it all at once?
I thought the best way would be wish a fish net - any thoughts or opinions?
:notsure:

 

[sly]

There are many people who have removed the CC all at once. As long as your LS is cured, you should not have a problem.

 

[scoobydoo]

Not sure if a 55g would be much harder than a 29g, but I did mine yesterday. I made the switch from cc to southdown sand I bought at Home Depot. 50lbs for $5.99. I did it last night. I put half of my water in a large rubbermaid garbage can, then the rocks and fish and inverts, and then the rest of the water. I removed the cc with my fish net and replaced it with the sand and slowly added the water back. I left a couple of handfuls of the ls that was already in there. I filled the tank (29g) up about half way with water, added the lr back and filled the rest of the way and finally added the fish and inverts. The process took about 4 hours. I ended up with a sand storm even though I was really careful. The sand has mostly settled but am told it will take about a week for it to completely settle. I also added Nitromax (a live bacteria) to help with the cycling.

 

[smpross]

ZnL,
I did my 90 Gallon this weekend using the same live sand that you are thinking about. It took about 2 hours total. I removed my live rock, and placed a couple of my more aggressive fish in a temporary bucket (Lionfish and snowflake eel). I then used the net to scoop out the gravel. The only real problem was that the tank quickly became so foggy that I could not see the how much gravel I had left. So I started working methodically from left to right pushing the gravel to the right side of the tank. I then poured in the live sand and put the live rock back in. Then replaced the fish. The tank looks awesome now. I am so glad that I did it. Good luck. Scott
P.S. Make sure that you have several different size nets available.

 

[zeldanlink]

I changed over the weekend even though the guy at the LFS tried to talk me out of it as it was "too messy". It was not hard at all and I am so glad that I did it!
All in all, the whole process took about an hour and I scooped all the gravel in a huge fish net - did not take out any fish or LR and only removed about 20% of the water. Scooped really fast and then I put the new sand (LS and sand) in a bucket and slowly lowered it into the tank so not too much swirled out and pourly along the bottom.
I know what you mean about not being able to see as my filter strainer came off and I could not find it! The tank settled down in about 2 hours and looks FABULOUS!

SO GLAD IT DID IT!