live sand info please

[seasalt101]

getting ready to add live sand to my tank what brand is recomended the most and what just pour it in? or do i rinse it first with ro water or salt water anything else i should know i have approximately 30 lbs. of lr in there now it is a 29 gal. that i want to add this to also time for a water change before or after adding sand thanx tobin :happyfish

 

[ray28576]

Originally Posted by seasalt101
getting ready to add live sand to my tank what brand is recomended the most and what just pour it in? or do i rinse it first with ro water or salt water anything else i should know i have approximately 30 lbs. of lr in there now it is a 29 gal. that i want to add this to also time for a water change before or after adding sand thanx tobin :happyfish
Some say just pour it in, others say to add it one cup at a time. I just pour mine in.

I don't recomend any one specific brand. I would do a water change a couple days after I added the LS. Have you cycled your tank yet?

 

[ray28576]

If you already have your rocks in there, then I would do it one cup at a time, to prevent pouring it all over the rocks.

 

[seasalt101]

yes the tank has cycled it is an established system been up since january will this cause another cycle just wondering that since question was posted wondering if my tank has cycled thanx :happyfish

 

[ray28576]

Originally Posted by seasalt101
yes the tank has cycled it is an established system been up since january will this cause another cycle just wondering that since question was posted wondering if my tank has cycled thanx :happyfish
I was just wondering if the tank has cycled because of the water change question. If it hadn't cycled then I was going to say just wait until after the cycle to do a water change.

That was the only reason I was wondering if your tank has cycled. Sounds like you've been doing this for a few months though. Hope I didn't offend you or anything.

 

[seasalt101]

no not at all i appreciate all replies and if i need to be checked then check please i can take it i just have never used ls before want to do it right you know :happyfish

 

[ray28576]

Originally Posted by seasalt101
no not at all i appreciate all replies and if i need to be checked then check please i can take it i just have never used ls before want to do it right you know :happyfish

 

[shiby1510]

If you cycled the tank with lr or have lr in there it will eventually seed the sand that you have in there... As far as brands... well most of the stuff sold on the lfs shelves such as "aragalive" I don't think is what you are quite looking for... Most of that stuff just has some bacteria in it... no critters.

 

[seasalt101]

like i stated before the tank is established what i am not sure of is if i add 40 or 60 lbs. of ls will that start another cycle? the tank has been up and running since january and if it will start another cycle i will have to take my fish out and put them in a qt tank thanx everyone :happyfish

 

[shiby1510]

OHH... I am sorry... so you just want to add more depth?? hehe... and then there is me who is contemplating on decreasing the depth of my sandbed... anyways... You should be fine... Just make sure like said before.. rinse it a good bit... and also put it in small amounts.. take a cupload all the way down to the bottom and slowly drop it in... the better rinsed it is and such it will not cause as much of a sand storm.. turn your powerheads and such off aswell. If you can get your fish out... and want to qt them you can... thats just opinion... It's just a call which will stress the fish more... I feel as long as you make sure that you don't have a lot of sand flying around and making a big mess... just do it very slowly over more than one day.

 

[seasalt101]

thanx shilby yeah i don't have any sand in there at all, a couple of months back took all of my cc out and just left my lr in just want tank to look better even thinking about black sand :happyfish

 

[shiby1510]

Sounds good... What type of sand bed are you planning on going with... deep or shallow?
How big is the tank... what kind of livestock and corals?

 

[seasalt101]

i was thinking about 3 in. this tank is maxed out except i could add some inverts still i'm preparing to start a 150 fish, reef combo just want to pretty this one up for daughter that is showing interest in hobby in there i have 3 green chromis, 1 blue devil, and 1 scooter blenny, 1 emerald crab, and 1 other crab that came in a piece of lr that i never see and don't know what type lfs said it's a fiddler crab like i said i never see it. it is a 29 gal. :happyfish

 

[shiby1510]

Sounds good... I also have a 29g... and I went with the dsb but now I do not want it anymore

of course... haha... I realized that if I do not have a 6" sand bed I would have soo much more room so I will be drastically lowering my sand bed... Just a note... for you to decide on for yourself but I think I am going to lower mine all the way to where the stand goes soo you can't see the sand against the glass rather just if you are close and looking in the tank you can see the sand.. this is because of the buildup you can get between the sand and the glass which does not look too pretty.

 

[seasalt101]

that is a good point shiby i think i will do the same thanx again :happyfish