hallzy
Member
Ok, here's my situation; I have a 65 gallon reef tank set up that currently has a CC substrate (well its actually gravel right from the atlantic ocean that I boiled, but pretty much functions the same as CC, collecting alot of gunk and serving no real purpose other than looks). After reading into it, I've decided I want to get the benefits that come with having a DSB.
Current livestock in my tank are: numerous soft and LPS coral, a few brittles, hermits and snails, cleaner shrimp, bar goby, yellow watchman, engineer goby, firefish, and melanurus wrasse. I also have a 29g FOWLR upstairs with only a clown and black and gold damsel.
Now im not exactly sure the best way to go about making this switch. For starters, I've read that regular playsand can be used along with a bag or so of actual live sand in order to save ALOT of money on very expensive bags of LS. This is the route I would like to take. So I guess to start this process, what needs to be done with the playsand in order to prepare it for the aquarium?
Next thing, is my tank going to go thru a cycle? Most articles I've read so far say its hit and miss on how large of a cycle actually occurs, but I have too much coral invested to take this risk. I was thinking about just moving the 2 fish from my 29 into the 65 for a period of time, and then utilizing my 29g for the cycle process, and then transferring the sand to the 65 after the cycle is complete. Seeing as tho the 65 will need ALOT more sand than the 29, I may have to do this in a couple different sessions, but its worth not risking losing everything, and im not on a timeframe to get this project done. Is this process a good idea? Will it work the way that I think it will? Is there a better/easier approach?
Thank you SOOOOO much in advance for any input! Im sure I will have plenty more questions the farther along I get in this process, but I think this will cover getting the process rolling!
Current livestock in my tank are: numerous soft and LPS coral, a few brittles, hermits and snails, cleaner shrimp, bar goby, yellow watchman, engineer goby, firefish, and melanurus wrasse. I also have a 29g FOWLR upstairs with only a clown and black and gold damsel.
Now im not exactly sure the best way to go about making this switch. For starters, I've read that regular playsand can be used along with a bag or so of actual live sand in order to save ALOT of money on very expensive bags of LS. This is the route I would like to take. So I guess to start this process, what needs to be done with the playsand in order to prepare it for the aquarium?
Next thing, is my tank going to go thru a cycle? Most articles I've read so far say its hit and miss on how large of a cycle actually occurs, but I have too much coral invested to take this risk. I was thinking about just moving the 2 fish from my 29 into the 65 for a period of time, and then utilizing my 29g for the cycle process, and then transferring the sand to the 65 after the cycle is complete. Seeing as tho the 65 will need ALOT more sand than the 29, I may have to do this in a couple different sessions, but its worth not risking losing everything, and im not on a timeframe to get this project done. Is this process a good idea? Will it work the way that I think it will? Is there a better/easier approach?
Thank you SOOOOO much in advance for any input! Im sure I will have plenty more questions the farther along I get in this process, but I think this will cover getting the process rolling!