changing substrate.

[ivan]

i have 40 pounds of crush shells and 40 pounds of live sand in my tank. now i want to remove the crush stuff and add yust sand. i will trie to remove most of the sand that i can from the cruck shells and add more sand to make a dsb. now will this cause my tank to cycle again. i have only 3 mushrooms and one carpet onemone only 20 pounds of live rock and plan to get more. fish are in the hospital tank right now. also if it cycles can i cure the sand in a drifferent container and then add the sand after getting it cured.

 

[texasreefrat]

Personally, if it isnt too deep already I would just cover it with new livesand, then you can avoid damaging the balance you have already achieved.

 

[ivan]

the reason i want to get rid of the crush stuff is because when i added the sand i put a small base of sand in the bottom crush stuff on the middle and sand on top of the crush stuff. now all the sand went down and the crush stuff went up, also the crush stuff grows green algea and i haven't seen any algae grow in the sand.

 

[big dave]

Green algae will probably grow on the sand also. The easiest way I have prevented this is to aim a powerhead so the flow just skims the sand. Algae that grows on gravel/sand can't live in an area with current.

 

[big dave]

Or, just take out a few handfuls of crushed shell a day because it is all at the surface. Also , as it surfaces, just remove it.

 

[ivan]

ok now if i go to hd and buy that sand that you guys use the down south one or the other one and put it on top of it will my tank cycle again, i have about a 2 to 2-1/2 in deep base. i want to have some were around 5 in deep.