how to add more sand!

mak90

New Member
hi guys i currently have about ~40lbs of sand in my 75gal, and its a really thin layer, so i want to add a few more pounds.
i bought a 15lb bag of aragonite sand, whats the best way to add this to my existing setup? the tnak has been up for ~8mos
LFS told me to just pour it on top of the old sand, and the creatures would just burrow through to the top..sound right i guess? althou i dont trust my LFS too much..he's a salesman. lol
 

renogaw

Active Member
problem is you're going to have some die off from the anaerobic bacteria that's forming inside that bag if it's one of those prebagged sand bags.
you'll need to put the sand in like a 5 gallon bucket and check for ammonia over about a week. if no ammonia, put in no more than 1/4" per day ontop of your existing sand.
 

mak90

New Member
wow thatnks for the quick reply. ok it is the prebagged aragonite sand, but it doesnt say its live or anything..would i be able to scoot my existing sand to one side, add some of the new and cover with the old? or will that cause too much stress? my tank isnt too heavily stocked, just 4 firefish and about 20 blue herms. i kno it will cause a lot of cloudy mess!
 

spanko

Active Member
If it is just dry san do this.
Rinse it out fairly well with some plain rodi or distilled water.
Take a pc. of PVC pipe long enough to reach to the bottom of the tank.
Affix a funnel to the top of the pipe.
Pour sand into funnel a cup at a time using the other end of the pipe to direct the sand to where you want it to go.
This method will reduce to eliminate the sandstorm usually associated with adding sand to a tank with water in it already.
Hope that helps!
 

renogaw

Active Member
if it's dry, spanko's dead on. the no more than 1/4" is so the animals will unbury themselves. just spread it around, adding 15 lbs to a 75 gallon shouldn't cover very much.
 

mak90

New Member
thanks spank and reno! im going to hop to that! i plan on buying a goby/pistol shrimp pair so i want to give them enough sand to burrow into!
 
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