how to convert from dsb to bare bottom

sbaumann14

Member
currently have a 180 with a 5in DSB. tank is about 6 mths old now, but was thinking of trying to get some of the sand out of there and steppin up to a bigger skimmer. any ideas of how i would go about gettin about 3-4 in of the sand out of the bottom? tank measures 60in x 30in tall x 24in wide
 

baloo6969

Member
U need 2 people. 1 man the hose, 1 man the valve.
3 inch hose, put a ball valve on it. start a syphon, shut off the valve.
Take the sand out in sections. Take a large enough section out that takes the water level down 40%.
Top off with mixed water. do this a couple times over a week.
Try not to mix up the sand.
My friend did it this way, i maned the valve...it worked for him.
 

stanlalee

Active Member
In other words you siphon it out. the finer the sand the smaller the hose you can use. count on having a boat load of saltwater ready because you are going to siphon out a great deal of water getting the sand out. also be prepared to temporarily house your livestock elsewhere because disturbing large anaerobic areas of the sandbed can release toxic gases (sulfer I beleive) quickly harming the livestock. if you want to remove ALL the sand you have no choice but to do it in sections and move the liverock out the section your doing otherwise you'll have to move all the rock out which is probably faster and less of a headache (you'll want to stabilize the rocks a little afterwards anyway). anyway you do it will be a PITA. I did a 0.75" sandbed on a 30g and that was a PITA, I cant imagine doing a 180g with a 6" sand bed
I did use the sand to make a DSB in the sump
before

after (several siphons later you can still see some residual sand to the left)
 

spanko

Active Member
Or you can bite the bullet, remove all the water to tubs that you can put your livestock and rock in. Get as much water out as you can without disturbing the sand too much. When everything is out take out all of the sand. Then start to reassemble the scape put the water back in the coral inverst fish. Then top off with new water. You have done a water change as well as gotten rid of the sand. This can be done if you have a small fish bioload. Don't know that it will work with a large amount of fish or with large fish. I did it to a 29 gallon biocube with no problem.
JME
 
M

mr.reef

Guest
i know many people like bare bottom but i think it takes away the ocean feel but the rock and corals look good..
 

sbaumann14

Member
well seeing as how my DSB wont load up and become toxic for a few more years, i think i'll just leave it alone for now. thanks for all the replys
 
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