Ls & Cc

[bwets_angel]

I currently have a LS CC mix sand bed and am wanting to change to Southdown seeded with some LS after reading some posts on here. What is the best way to make this change sine I already have fish and inverts in the tank. I haven't purchased any LR yet and am wanting to make the change before purchasing. 2nd question, will making this change mess up my water conditions?

 

[katara]

When I changed from cc to ls it was much simpler than I thought.I simply scooped out all of the cc (this was the most laborious part) and then put the ls in a large,clean plastic bag and lowered it to the bottom of the tank, then I just made a large slit in the bottom of the bag and let it fall out slowly.I did do a 30% water change the following day because I was worried that I may have released trapped nitrates from the cc.Not much of a hassle and totally worth it!Good luck!

 

[bwets_angel]

Did you already have fish in your tank? And what did you use to scoop the cc out with?

 

[carsgirlsnfish]

well here is what i am doing RIGHT NOW. yes at 2:30 am it sucks. i took out my fish and put them in the qt and scooped out all the crushed coral an then put the play sand then a layer of live sand.

 

[bwets_angel]

What do you guys use to scoop out the cc? Just your hands?

 

[carsgirlsnfish]

i used a pitcher that is flat on the side and it took no time at all for that part

 

[bwets_angel]

ok thanks

 

[justchillin]

go get a dust pan...works great!!!

 

[bwets_angel]

Ok I went to look for sand today and all they had was quikrete all pourpose sand. Is this ok?

 

[carsgirlsnfish]

i don't think that's ok. i got quickrete play sand. it's a clear bag the sand is white. i have heard from many people that you shouldn't use all purpose sand.

 

[bwets_angel]

Ok I went today and bought the play sand and put it in my tank. My filter has now quit working. I had it unplugged when I put the sand in and when I plugged it back in it didn't run. Do you think it is clogged with sand? Can it be fixed or should I buy a new one? Also should I hook up my protein skimmer or wait until the sand settles?

 

[carsgirlsnfish]

it just quit working altogether? the motor could have locked up. i would take apart the filter, clean it and see if there is anything clogging it up. what type of filter is it

 

[bwets_angel]

Yeah I am thinking that it might be clogged with sand. It an Emporor Bio Wheel

 

[irenicus]

I had problem like that with my roommate's tank. You can try taking it apart and seeing if sand is clogging it. I took out the impellar and rinsed a bunch of stuff out and the Empreror worked smoothly. HTH

 

[bwets_angel]

How do you get it apart? I tried to get the impeller out but it wouldn't move.

 

[bwets_angel]

I'm beginning to think I should have just stuck with the cc ls mixture. So far I lost probably 3 of my 4 starfish, my shrimp, my snails, I think my sally lightfoot crab, and my coral beauty. Coral beauty was doing fine too. Was swimming around in the tank one day and stuck to the skimmer pump dead the next. And now my poor trigger has to live in a 10gal until the show tank clears up. Took him out this morning because I didn't want to lose him too.

 

[bobo]

how did you reacclimate your livestock when you put them in? did you rinse the playsand well first? did you check your water parameters before you put the livestock in? the animals that died are all very sensitive to drastic changes in water and probably died because precautionary step were not taken...I'm really sorry for your lost. normally its not recommended to put anything other than argragonite base sand in, but if you put other types of sand well cleaned it still shouldn't have killed your livestock right away. i would do a through test on your water at this point and keep it aerated and heated. do what you need to get all the levels right...it might have been a drastic pH change and alk that killed your animals. don't put the trigger in it until everything is right. good luck with him.

 

[bwets_angel]

I lost the starfish due to the heater quit working over night and the temp dropped below 70. The angel had been doing excellent. Had been in the cloudy water for a day or so swimming around, eating, you know doing good. Then I put in my skimmer last night and when I woke up my angel was stuck to it. The shrimp accidentally got tossed in a low salinity tank and the hermits ate him before I knew he was dead. The sally lightfoot I'm not sure about. He got left in the show tank so I'm thinking my husband might have burried him unless he was on the filter. My husband also burried my only 4 snails out of 20 that survived my blue leg hermits. None of these deaths would have happened if I had just left the tank alone.

 

[bwets_angel]

Also what should I do about the snail and the sally lightfoot if it is burried?

 

[carsgirlsnfish]

well, don't get too down on yourself. this is usually what it takes for you to learn a lesson in this hobby. i have made some mistakes in the past and i have definitely learned from them, so i'm actually glad that it happened. is the filter going yet? i just took mine apart today to get all the sand out of it. the impeller should pull right out. if it won't work, then you should take it back. don't those have a pretty good warranty