Changing to sand tomorrow

[bellanavis]

I am changing my 65 hexagon tank from cc live sand tomorrow. So far, I have been told to do this.
First fill a large bucket with the tank water for the fish, and one for the live rock. Then scoop out all the cc and put some of the cc in nylon stockings to keep in the tank for a little so the bacteria transfers to the sand. Then put the sand in slowly, and let it settle and then put the rock and the fish back in.
Does that sound right?
If anyone can answer me, or even offer some tips, that would be great.
Thanks For Your Time,
Nichole

 

[ross]

That sounds pretty good to me. Your sound might not settle down for a day or so though. Good Luck!

 

[coloradodeb]

I would advise to try to pour the water onto a plate or other flat object that is lying on the sand, I have tried this and really decreased the sand storm that follows. Best of luck to you!

 

[bellanavis]

Thank you both for getting back to me.

 

[inigomontoya]

Nichole - Don't forget a nice bottle of wine or Champagne to reward yourself for all that hard work!! Well, if you're old enough, that is..

 

[dzones]

I am quite sure I read on here somewhere that they used a pvc pipe to pour the sand through from above the surface right down to the bottom of the tank. This way a lot of the sand will hit the bottom right away instead of flowing through the water and clouding as it sinks from the top.
seems to make sense.
Good luck though!
Dave
PS - I know you will be MUCH better off with the live sand

 

[crcoachm]

I was told to lay the sand down and then cover with plastic. Start filling with water, havlve way filled pull the plastic. This will help with the stirring up and cloudness of the water.
On the photography room if you look for a topic with the heading wablondie98664 we were discussing the same thing
I am getting ready to do the dame thing with a 75 gallon

 

[thomas712]

Originally posted by BellaNavis
So far, I have been told to do this.
First fill a large bucket with the tank water for the fish, and one for the live rock. Thanks For Your Time,
Nichole
And one more for the rest of the water: Why; because once you dig into that crushed coral there is no telling what you might stir up. Try to save as much of that water as you can. Then pull out the crused coral. The crushed coral could be harboring a ton of waste depending on how long it has been there, this could cause spikes that you do not want.
Do not vaccume the crushed coral for this swap, just drain it down to the crushed coral, then remove it.
Thomas

 

[smokinstarfish]

I'm changing to sand within the next few days as well. I'm just going to take scoops of sand and then just ease it to the tank bottom.
I'm going to siphon the CC out and then put it into my Rubbermaid sumps, instead of putting it in nylon bags. There's a lot of life in that CC I want to save. Once the DSB is established, I'll remove the CC out of the system for good, then probably use it as a filter substrate for my African cichlids.
How long do you all think I should wait until taking the CC out of the sumps? I was going to do it slowly over eight-weeks.

 

[thomas712]

Originally posted by smokinstarfish
Once the DSB is established, I'll remove the CC out of the system for good, then probably use it as a filter substrate for my African cichlids.
How long do you all think I should wait until taking the CC out of the sumps? I was going to do it slowly over eight-weeks.
First off you can cycle a whole tank in 8 weeks, if that is the case then why bother using the crushed coral. I think 2-3 weeks would be more the mark, using the crushed coral to seed the bacteria.
2nd - going from saltwater bacteria to an african cichlid tank would be two different forms of bactera, your sw bacteria woud perish I beleive.
I may have missunderstood you on the crushed coral, is it for the change over from cc to sand then later use the cc for the cichlid tank? Yeah I bet thats what you meant.
Thomas

 

[smokinstarfish]

How harmful to you all think that cloudiness be to the fish? Will it hurt my yellow tang? I won't let anything happen to this fish.
Thomas, I would bleach or boil the CC before using it as a bio-filter for the African cichlids anyway. True, two different types of bacteria dominate our FW and marine tanks, respectively. The CC would just cycle in FW.
As for removing the CC from my sumps slowly after the sand is added, you're right, three or four weeks would be fine. The tank's already cycled and I have a hefty wet/dry going, so the relatively quick removal of the CC won't have such an impact.