Old question, new idea

[drummerboy]

Ok, I'm going to ask a question that has been beat to death already, and I don't want to bore you guys, but I have a little bit of a different idea (I think, I'm sure others have done it though). I would like to change from crushed coral to sand. I have a very deep cc bed, (about four inches) in a two month old tank. I'm thinking about removing most of the cc (down to where I can't see it any more) to keep the bacteria, and then putting a very very fine screen (non metalic of course) cut to fit over the top of it, and then putting my sand over that. This way I can keep some of the bacteria, and also keep the sand from filtering through to the bottom.
Good idea? Bad idea? I really just wanted to get this done before my clean up crew arrived (hopefully tomorrow or the next) because I figure it will be next to impossible to do it after I have hermits and stuff all over the place.
Once again, sorry to bring the topic up again.

 

[kelly]

Just for you information. There are 2 basic types of bacteria that make a good sand bed. You have Aerobic and Anerobic bacteria the first likes oxygen, and the 2nd does not.
If you make you CC bed shallow and then add the sand on top of it, it will help seed the new sand bed, but the screen idea may not be the best option. It may still be a detrius trap.
I personally think if it is possible, do one half of the tank first, then the balance of it next. There are many other ways of doing it also, I have heard of people putting some of the CC in a stocking, etc. while switching over. If you have enough live rock, you may just have a mini cycle.
If you add LS you may not even notice a cycle at all. Just my thoughts.

 

[drummerboy]

Thanks for your imput kelly, you're right I think that the live rock I have will probably do a better job of seeding the sand. I think part of my hope was that if I left some of the cc in (not sure I could ever get it all out anyway), that I wouldn't have to buy as much sand (I'm a college student, I save money in all ways possible , bad hobby for that though <img src="graemlins//yeahright.gif" border="0" alt="[yeahright]" /> ). Thank you for your imput though, maybe I will just go with all sand.