New to the Game - Changing CC to Sand

dedlystorm

dedlystorm

New Member
Hello I am new to the game with Saltwater Tanks, my wife is not. Luckily we booth seem to have this passion for the hobby. We had a 75 gallon tank that had a few fish in it and then my wife wanted to do a reef tank, so we went and bought another 60 gallon cube tank. She took the 60 gallon for a reef tank and that has sand, the other tank ( my tank ) has CC in it and Iam getting a spotted eel in it. Hers with the sand looks so much better and I was thinking of changing mine to sand as well, I have read a few threads and seen many ways of doing this. I have even had a local shop tell me that I can remove most of the CC and leave a portion of it to mix in the sand. What is the best way to do this? I do not like the brownish look to the tank due to the stuff it collects on the coral. Any advice would be appreciated. I am also looking for some cool companions for my eel as well so if you could let me know what would work with him as well.
Thanks,
 
trainfever

trainfever

Active Member
I would just get a hose and syphon out the CC. Get yourself a few filter bags to catch the CC and then place them in your tank so as not to lose all your bacteria. You can take them out eventually.
 
dedlystorm

dedlystorm

New Member
I was going to get Live Sand, the tank is already cycled. So is the idea I heard of leave a portion of the CC in the sand a bad one? I have had so many people tell me one thing then I read up on it and there are just as many people telling me it is a bad thing.
 
scotts

scotts

Active Member
First off welcome to the board.
One thing that I would recommend is to do a search on this board for words similar to "switching CC to LS" The serch button is at the top right of this screen. Many people here have switched and there are many posts about it.
Oh yeah, do not leave any CC in your tank. There is no reason to and mixing LS and CC is not a good idea.
Good-luck.
Scott
 
trainfever

trainfever

Active Member
The reason for leaving the CC in is because it has bacteria in it which is beneficial to your system. If you take the CC out, you will be taking out the bacteria which could cause a spike in your water levels. The reason to take the CC out is because it will eventually work its way back to the top of your sand and then you will be stuck with having to remove it anyway without removing the sand with it. That is why I suggest placing the CC in filter bags for a while until your sand has a chance for bacteria to grow in it. If you have a sump, place it in there or maybe in your filter or even hide a bag or two behind some liverock.
 
kdfrosty

kdfrosty

Active Member
I made the switch about a month ago. I took all the rock out, and then I used a one gallon milk container with the bottom cut off as a scoop, with holes in the top to drain the water. I scooped ALL the CC out, and put it in a bucket.
I put the sand in through a PVC pipe to reduce sand clouds, and then seeded it with LS.
since you have CC in there for a while, and could use that to seed your new sand, I have read that some people will use a pantyhose as a filter bag, and fill it partially with CC, and thern place the CC in the new sand.
HTH
 
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