Sand bed

jjboods

jjboods

Member
I am very close to converting from CC to sand. 55 gallons and has been set up for a year. about 50 pounds LR, 3 powerheads, and a Turboflotor 1000 in sump.
Questions:
1. Will the tank be okay if I remove ALL the CC?
2. What should I replace it with...all live sand or a combination od sand substrate and live sand?
3. If a combo, how much of each?
4. Any recommendations on brands and places to buy?
Thanks!
 
jonthefb

jonthefb

Active Member
congrats on taking the first step to a dsb!
1. yeah remove all of the cruseh coral, however with the top layer, scoop it up and place it in pantyhose balls, as you will later place these on your dsb, and will allow all the critters, bacteria, etc to survive, and recolonate.
2. if you can afford all live sand, i would say go for it, as you will have the immediate benefits of its filtration. this can be expensive so if you dont have much cash, id go with a combo, of dead dry sand and live
3. again if you go with a combo, get as much live as you can afford and then plce whatever dead dry sand you want at the bottom, and place the live stuff on top. heres an equation to help you determine how many pounds of snad you will need:
Length of tank in inches X Width of tank in inches X desired sandbed depth in inches X .0579=pounds of sand needed.
4. swf.com has great deals on live sand, and if you want good dead dry sand, look for southdown tropical playsand at your local home depot, depending on where your from
good luck
jon
 
jjboods

jjboods

Member
According to the equation, 80 pounds would be about a 2.2" bed...is this deep enough? I have seen people say 4 inches, but I've also read that anywhere from 1-2" is adequate.
 
tjkohler

tjkohler

Member
4-6 inches is what you need for a DSB. Dr Ron has great essays on DSB's and that's the numbers he uses.
 
jjboods

jjboods

Member
Assuming I use 80-100lbs playsand and 20 lbs LS, how long should I keep the bag of crushed coral in? Probably a stupid questions, but can I keep the bag in the sump?
 
jjboods

jjboods

Member
My wife sent me to Home Depot for paint. Yahoo!!! I bought 100 lbs of southdown. Now what??? Does it need to be rinsed? Do I just put it in? How long do I need to keep the fish, corals, LR out? How long should a bag of the CC stay in?
 
jonthefb

jonthefb

Active Member
i would rinse it in a 5 gal bucket, a little at a time. if you are seeding the southdown with live sand, you can put them in right away. if not, i would suggest putting all the live rock, and cc in pantyhose in there for a bout a week, monitor your water params, and then look at adding your fish back!
good luck, and congrats on the sand purchase!
jon
 
jjboods

jjboods

Member
Okay...I am going to my LFS tomorrow to exchange a mean SOB of a yellow tang...see my "too many fish" post. Anyway...I am going to get some LS to add to the tank with the 100lbs of southdown that is waiting in my garage. My question is...how much should I get to be able to put all my fish in corals back in immediately? And...how long should I leave the bag of CC in the tank? Also...can the bag of CC go in the sump?
 
tjkohler

tjkohler

Member
The thing is that every tank is different and every cycle runs through differently. Do you have to be able to put the fish in right away? If you can wait than do it period. If you can't then monitor the water params every 8-12 hours (you should get a shark to say this also, don't just use my somewhat newbie opinion).
 
jonthefb

jonthefb

Active Member
get as much live sand as you can afford! that is usually the determining factor for me anyhow. id leave the crushed coral in th epantyhose for about a week, then take it out and discard it, and no dont put it in your sump, cause you want it to seed the life in your sandbed. how many fish do you have? if you can, have your fish store hold them for you for a week while you change things over and then monitor your water params very closely. The more live sand that is already live that you add, the better, and you are less likely to ep a cycle. when i had to change my 75 over to a 135, i had to add mostly dry dead sand, with only about an inch of true live sand, whihc was still like 100 pounds, but i didnt expereience any sort of cycle at all!
good luck and let me know if you have any more q's,
p.s. sorry it took me forever to reply to your post!
good luck
jon
 
jjboods

jjboods

Member
I am sure you are correct, so I am not questioning, just trying to learn. Why would dead sand cause a cycle, especially if I leave the CC in the tank in the bags? Would some sort of additive like Cycle or Stress-Zyme help? I really don't have a close LFS, and the one I do usually go to is closed until next week...he went to some seminar in Texas.
 
fshhub

fshhub

Active Member
dry sand does not have the bacteria on it and the cycle is only your populating surfaces with these bacteria(that is all it is)
so adding dry is adding sand free of it, andthus needs to be populated(tehre, another cycle)
 
surfnturf

surfnturf

Member
jjboods, I have read so much info saying that "cycle" and other bacterial starters are worthless. My own experience has proven otherwise, in both freshwater and saltwater, "cycle" does make a huge difference. The price of a bottle of the stuff is insignificant to the amount of money that you will spend on something as simple as salt. Many disagree on this, but if you want to jump start your DSB, toss some of that "cycle" in there, you will never regret it.
 
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