Going from crushed coral to live sand?

[lionstorm]

I've really been considering doing this. I know it would have been easier to just go live sand from the start and do a DSB but for some stupid reason I didn't. So now I have a fully functioning 75 gallon with quite a few occupants and about 70lbs of live rock and I'm wondering if I can switch or if its too late.
I know if I do transition it'll be messy. Would the tank cycle again after I take out the crushed coral and put sand in its place? I know it would be a little cloudy at first but that it would settle.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated, to see what I have check down there **points**
Thanks guys

 

[dreeves]

Yes it will cycle....maybe not a huge cycle...but none the less a cycle.

 

[lionstorm]

i should get a bigger quarantine tank before i do this....do you think a 29 gal would be good for the pufferfish and tang and crabs and then i could put the damsels (hopefully with the liverock out i could catch them) and the clownfish and anemone in the 10 gal...maybe put the sea urchin and CBS in the 29 gallon...hmm

 

[lutz493]

In February I switched my tank from CC to a DSB. I voiced the same concerns as you on the board.
I bought 2 large Rubbermaid Bins and moved my tank to split between the bins.
I cleaned out CC and disposed of it. I cleaned the tank out very thoroughly with warm water. I kept Heaters in each Bin, and my Powerheads running to keep movement. I ran my hang-on skimmer going in one bin with my Livestock to have little added Filtration.
I forgot the name of what I bought, but there is sand that is basically ready to go out of the bag, they keep the inside of the bag with enough water to keep the sand damp.
I put the sandbed into the tank then set-up my rock and re-added my livestock.
I monitored my levels for a few days and I had no movements. I think you will be ok if you make sure nothing gets cold and nothing get dry.
You have alot of Liverock in the tank that if there is some sort of small cycle I wouldn't think it will hurt anything.

 

[lionstorm]

sounds awesome thank you lutz. I will explore this idea more now, I just don't want anyone to get hurt. If I ordered live sand from this site how much would I need for a 75 gallon tank to get a good 4-6 inches of DSB?
Also I talked to the lady at my LFS and she suggested leaving some of the coral in so my scooter could burrow and make tunnels but I'm leaning towards just taking it all out.

 

[lesleybird]

Hi,
I am kind of new to this hobby and have used crushed coral in the tank for a year and a half. I like it because I can vacuum the gravel. I think with the sand I would just suck out the sand if I tried to clean the debris like this? I read that the crushed coral with the little shells in it is a good medium for bacteria to grow on, and it is a natural buffer. I do have many small bristle worms to stir the sand bed. They have not hurt anything, and the six line wrasse keeps them from growing too big. My water quality is fine.I would like to know why most of the people on this board think that sand is the best option over crushed coral? Am I missing something? The books that I have read say both are good. Lesley

 

[dopey33]

lesley,
Im extremely new to this hobby as well and what i have found is the cc vs. ls debate is kind of like coke vs pepsi!
their the same thing but different, each has its befits and its drawbacks.
Its all in your personal preferance! from what i have learned it depends on what you want from your tank
But its very confusing for us newbies!

 

[lionstorm]

my main reason for wanting to get rid of my crushed coral is because it is also part of an undergravel filter system which I no longer use and I hear lots of good things about live sand being a natural filter and getting rid of nitrates better. Right now my cc has several bristle worms dwelling in it but I still am constantly fighting algae growing up the sides of my tank.
The only problem I face is that the bactera currently in the crushed coral has been set up for a long time and if I switch over to live sand not only will I have to relocate a lot of live rock but my fish as well and I risk starting another cycle.
If I do do this it will not be until a little later in the future because I will need to establish another quarantine tank, big enough for my puffer and tang and then do the switch.

 

[cgr]

Maybe I was just lucky but I switched from CC to DSB about two months ago without loosing any of my fish. I had my tank set up for over a year when I made the decision to change. I did half a tank at the time. Moved all my rocks to one side of the tank and all the fish moved to where the rocks were and hid while I scooped the CC with a fish net from the other half. I waited two weeks before doing the other half.
If my tank went through a cycle, I did not even notice it because my readings did not change. I used 225# of play sand from ToysRUs and 25# live aragonite sand from my lfs. I had some algea blooms during the first few weeks but it is OK now. I love it and I think my fish don't mind.
By the way, you do not have to vaccum DSB.
120 Gal FOWLR
1 Yellow tang
1 Blue tang
1 Sailfin tang
3 chromis
1 cleaner wrass
1 tomato clown
1 sleeper gobie
1 skunk cleaner shrimp
1 coral banded shrimp
2 peppermint shrimp
1 sandsifter star
emerald crabs, snails, blue and scarlet hermits
Ammonia 0, Nitrites 0, Nitrates 0, PH 8.2, Salinity 1.024
5+” DSB

 

[squidd]

Oh, You may have to vacume the sand bed!
I changed from C.C. to sand bed ( not Deep) for my shark. With an established canister filter for Bio and Mech. filtration my "re"cycle was minimal.
I use an air powered vacum to pick up un eaten food and detrius in my FOWLR Aggressive tank.
You want to have enough powerhead circulation to keep the junk suspended so the filters can take it out.But more often than not you will find "Dead" zones where the skuz accumualates. A gravel vac. will disturb the bed but an air powered will just pick up the semi floating junk you want to get rid of.
As for me I like Coke

 

[lionstorm]

the lady at my LFS suggested doing half at a time also. Unfortunately I have the undergravel filter base still under the crushed coral and live rock. So half wouldn't work I would need to get that out and move all the live rock off it so I could get it out.
I'm going to postpone this project until I get a bigger quarantine tank running because right now the one I have could not hold all my fish if something went wrong.

 

[gene52569]

I switched from coral to sand. I have 4 inches of sand that i took from the waters of florida myself. My fish seem happier and my nitrites and nitrates pretty much stay at zero. Before then they were high. I have a 29 gallon tank and a 10 gallon, and i can bet i have 60 inch of fish in them. I will be going with bigger tanks soon.
The change over was real messy and the coral smelled like rotton eggs. Since the switch my tanks just seems to stay cleaner.
Eugene from Northern, Ga.