Live Sand Replacement?

[f1998]

I currently have a 75 gallon with 60 IBs of LS and 40 IBs of CC. I want to remove all LS and CC and replace it with new LS. Is this possible without causing extreme stress to my inverts and fish. The CC has risson to the top and is now all stained brown. I was told you could mix but I didnt know it would cause this kind of problem. I have a cleaning crew but only the spots where the LS sits is where it is clean.
Can someone pls let me know if this is possible?

 

[earlybird]

It is possible but I don't think you can do it all at once. Messing with your substrate could cause a bad spike. I would slowly take out a little of your sand over a few months until it is all gone. Then add your new sand. You may consider getting the sand ahead of time and putting it in a qt to make sure you don't get a spike from it (if you get it shipped). When you remove your substrate if you get a spike you could move your fish and inverts over to the qt and just remove the rest of the cc/sand from your dt. Hope this helps.

 

[f1998]

Could I buy new LS and just put it over the other sand or would this still cause a spike? I was thinking of just taking out the CC I see and leaving the LS in there.

 

[reefstar22]

Removing your sand is a bad idea. - All at one time that is.
It is apart of your biological filtration. - Do NOT remove it all at once unless you want a major problem.
Your best bet is to first siphon your sand, make sure that you get as much of the detrius out as possible.
From that point, do that a few times for the next couple weeks. - After you have removed the issue of toxins in the sand, try mixing it up every day as well, so detrius does not settle in the sand.
Now from that point you will also want to put some type of filter in your sump. - I like pillow padding. - it will help catch any detrius that starts floating because siphon. (I personally run this 24/7) - But I also have a larger tank.
Now as for the sand, I would remove it in sections. - 25% every 14 days untill it is removed.
Remember, you do NOT want sand under your rocks. - It will become a garbage dumb for nitrates and other detrius.
Best of luck.

 

[f1998]

Um.... I have the LR on top of the sand. Is that bad. I hope that isnt what your saying. If it is, what should I do to remove this sand from under the rocks?

 

[reefstar22]

Originally Posted by f1998
Um.... I have the LR on top of the sand. Is that bad. I hope that isnt what your saying. If it is, what should I do to remove this sand from under the rocks?

You should NEVER put sand under rocks, most new hobbyist's do it. - Its not a MAJOR issue, but over time it can become a problem. - What you will want to do is try and siphon as much detrius out as possible. - You dont want it messing with your water. - When you replace the sand, try and dig as much of the sand out from under it as possible. - Just think if a goby gets in there and starts digging around.... Just think if he digs enough out it could cause your rocks to crash down... but on the other side it will let loose alot of bad toxins

how long has your tank been up and running?
- Me personally...
I would remove all of your corals. -
I would remove all of your rock.
Siphon the sand. - Push it all forward in the tank...
Place the rocks back in without sand under them.
Then place sand around them.
Then I would take out 25% of the sand.
But really to be honest... the brown layer your talking about is most likely from phosphates, or to much light.
can you fill me in on your tank?

 

[aztec reef]

I would remove 25% of your substrate every week when doing water changes and also run carbon on your filter for the cloudiness.
There's nothing wrong with putting sand under rocks.. (where else , top?). The problem becomes when the sand gets disturbed or removed.
i would actually remove like 50% of substrate every week it might cause a little spike but with a waterchange it should be good.
I would think that the LS in your tank has already been mixed with CC so i would remove it too.

 

[reefstar22]

You can do the 50% change if you want. - However are your corals worth the risk? - Is your investment worth the risk? - I know i've put to much time into my tank, to risk something like this.
Also there are some great reef keeping books that I can look up for you if your interested. - However, all will tell you NOT to place sand under your rocks. - Please becareful with doing that it can be disastrous.
I personally only run a THIN sand bed because of the risk. - However I keep a DEEP sand bed in my eco system, 4 inchs thick by 3 feet. - I can send you pictures if you like.
You'll have to show us some pictures of this little project!
Best of luck!

 

[f1998]

Well Guys and Girls, I have taken out 3/4 of the LS/CC in the front and replaced it with 40 IBS of Live Sand. I have about 2 inches think now in the front. I left the LS/CC under the rock and behind it alone. So I have a total of 80 IBS of LS and 20 IBS of CC. I left about 1/2 inch of CC on bottom and replaced it with about 2 inches of LS in front. After replacing the LS, I did a 50% Water change. It has been about 2 hrs and I have checked to see if there is any change in water quality, so far it is the same. I put the clay pot back in my tank and my clownfish went right back in. My anenome is opened up and the other fish our swimming around eating.
My tank setup consists of a wet/dry filter with 3 filter pads, bio balls with Live Rock, and a Carbon Filteration. I just added the live rock and carbon filter bag to my wet/dry today. I took out some of the Bio Balls. I have 80 IBS of LR. My lights consist of 4 whites and 4 blues, with a total of 460 watts of T5. I keep them running for 10 hrs a day. I am running 1600 GPH currenltly so a turnover rate of 21X

 

[ironsnipes]

i would reduce your whites to about 8 hours or twice a day at 4 hours to reduced cyno or red algae growing or start to appear. me i run my brights for only 4 hours a day and let my actinic run 2 hours before and 2 hours after but i only have l.r, i have had a cyno out break recently, reduced the lighting and feeding along w/ shiponing out cyno is clearing me up. i also have c.c and l.s and am thinking about moving to strait l.s because of maintience let me know how it goes 4 u, any spikes in nitrites etc.