LS help needed

[stonedage]

i started my tank in jan, its an eclipse 6. I added about 6 lbs of crushed coral when i started it not knowing about all of the probs with it, now i want to swich to LS, is it possible now? how would i go about swapping one for the other? I have clown as well as the usual clean up crew, and 6 lbs of LR and some zoos and a mushroom. I dont want to kill everything and i dont know anyone that i could pass on my inhabitant to until i went through another cycle. How much sand would i need? Thanx for the help
SA

 

[reefkprz]

I would take every thing you have for live stock out including the rocks and set them up (temporary light, powerhead, filtration, and heat) in a bucket saving most of your water, then scoop out the CC, cycle the new sand in a tote before you start this, then dump in the sand and return everything to your tank.

 

[stonedage]

what method would you suggest for cycling the ls? How much would i need? I seen that the LFS has a tank with a bunch of LS in it and nothing else but it has alot of green algea on top of it, should i shop else where or would it be ok to start with it? thanx again
SA

 

[reefkprz]

what are the foot print measurements of your tank (WxL)and how deep do you want your sand to be?
that LFS sand would be fine if you transport it home in a bucket of water die off would be minimull, and could prevent more than a week cycle possibly. (I would scrape away the top layer and go for the cleaner stuff underneath) but those strains of algae already exist in your tank if you have a good clean up crew and decent parameters its probably not going to go haywire on you.
as for how to cycle it you just put it in a tote with a heater and powerhead, then ghost feed it like you have a tiny fish in your tank. (teeny bit of food every couple days untill the amm and nitrites read zero) with established sand it should take almost no time at all.

 

[stonedage]

the tank is only a 6gal, i think its about 13"X9" not sure how deep i would like the sand to be, what ever is the best i will use, wether its 4" or 1" but im not going to go bare bottomed, for looks mainly. But being as it such a small system i want the sand to help keep my water clean(i do 1gal weekly changes now) thanx
SA

 

[reefkprz]

4.74 pounds for one inch, in a tank that small you'd lose most of your tank to a DSB. if you want 2" double, 3 triple and so on. I went with 1" over a plenum in my 2.5G only been up a short time so there is no way to know if that was a good plan or not, but time will tell.
hoep this all has helped good luck with the changover.

 

[stonedage]

ill keep ya posted as to how it goes, thanx for the help

 

[reefkprz]

your very welcome.

 

[aztec reef]

if you have live rock in tank, i would take all the CC out first slowly, Keep doing water changes your water is going to be a little cloudy for a day or two. After the tank has cleared and you do a water change then i would add the LS in Slowly, Go deep or shallow, 2" and less(shallow) 4" and up (deep).

 

[stonedage]

you mean slowly as in weeks days or slowly as in hours?
SA

 

[aztec reef]

It will be the Safest way to do this like ReefprZ stated .But my way it depends on how much live rock and CC you have..