sand bed help

[almarktool]

hello,
do you think i would be better changing to live sand --- taking out the CC and putting in 1-2" of live sand if so which live sand is best there seems to alot of different ones on the market in which case then should i just get a blue star or a blenny to keep the bottom clean, trying to find a way to remove the fish waste if i do switch over to live sand is that going to cause a problem with me fish that i have in there now while i am doing that? currently i have a pair of clowns and a yellowtail damsel and 10 turbo snails

 

[captained]

Based on my recent (and not entirely successful) conversion when I got a bigger tank, here are some ideas for you.

• Do a search here for pantyhose or nylon stockings ..there was a good thread recently on converting from cc to a DSB. Its not as kinky as it sounds
• You will want at least 4" of sand for the DSB to work properly if I understand the process.
  You can use "dead" sand (e.g., southdown) from Home Depot which is cheaper, and make it "live" using the pantyhose method of transferring the bacteria.
  You could also use mostly regular sand, and then just one bag of "live" sand to introduce the bacteria, but it will take a little longer for the bacteria to multiply.

The very fine grain sand, which I understand is the best to use, will cause CLOUDS of dust that take a long time to filter out unless it is thoroughly rinsed first, which I'm guessing will rinse off most of the bacteria, so look at that thread on the pantyhose technique and consider just regular sand to start with.
Clowns and damsels are pretty hardy, but if you can catch them, I would move them to q-tine tank for a week if I were doing this over.
I don't think the blenny or blue star will do much to "vacumn" your sand bed for you- the blenny will go for uneaten food, but not waste, and the star is more likely to habg out on the glass or LR than the sand bed- at least mine did. I have 2 white burrowinf stars and 6 sandbed clams that are definite and stirres and cleaners. Some people think that's too much cleaning and reduces the efficiency of the DSB, but it seems to be working for me. I also have the usual crew of hermits and snails, and the hermits come out esp. at night and work the sand as well.
I'm definitley glad I switched to sand, but read up here as much as you can for ideas on how best to do it, and you'll save yourself a lot of trouble.