Just switched out my CC

[dbennett78]

I just switched out my CC for the southdown playsand found at Home Depot. First I siphoned half of the water in my 30 gallon into a 55 gallon rubbermaid container. Then I took out all the rock and put it in the container. After that I took the fish and shrimp out and placed them in the container and siphoned the rest of the water into the container. I also bought a heater for the container and put the powerhead in there to keep water flowing for the duration.
After this I just scooped out all the CC and replaced it with a 3.5" bed of sand. Started taking water out of the container and putting it back into the tank. Had to use freshwater to fill the rest of the tank so that the fish would be alright. Added salt to get the salt level up in the tank. Waited about a half hour for the salt and sand to settle and then started adding fish and shrimp after I put the rock back in.
Everything seems to be doing good now and it looks much better.
Let me know if you are thinking of switching out your CC and I will try to help you.

 

[thomas712]

Don't forget to check your water for spikes, including PH spike over the next few days.
Thomas

 

[dbennett78]

Ok thanks Ill keep an eye on it. It looks so much better now.

 

[dragracer]

I made the switch last weekend. 50 pounds of Southdown and 30 pounds of LS. I did it a little different. Well, first I had no live rock(thats why i switched, i wanna go LR now), anywho.......two nights before I mixed up about 30 gallons, because of losing some in the switch. Siphones half out, took the fish, crabs, and star out, put them in my Q tank, siphoned the rest of the water........forgot about my heater.....lets just say, had to buy a new one!! Anyway, got all the water out. Started scooping the CC out......but then though, screw this, unhooked EVERYTHING, grabbed mom from upstairs, and we lifted the tank off my stand, put it on a dolly and rolled it out in the driveway, called the neighbor for help, and we dumped the thing out and hosed the excess CC out......cut time in half, but i was careful not to rinse any algae off the glass. Put the sand in, my tacky decor and began to pump all my water back in. I left it sit for a night, then tested all my water and put the critters back in in a day. I've heard you can put them back in sooner, but I was just cautious. I was lucky and only needed 10 gallons of the water I mixed, so I did a water change in my QT. Couldn't hurt. Have fun guys!!