Originally Posted by
calbert0
http:///forum/post/3159358
I follow the belief that adding sand from well established tanks is quite a good way to bring bio-diversity to your system. Just be absolutely sure that the system you are getting the sand from is well established, in good health, and doesnt have loads of detritus or any other obvious signs of distress.
For the first 2-3 months of owning my tank i would get a scoop (or a pound) here and there and add it to the system. I also just recently added another sump to my system with live sand from several different tanks.
As long as you dont leave the sand sitting in a bag or bucket for too long everything should be fine... Get it from his tank to your tank pronto, and disperse it evenly. (dont completely cover your existing sand bed)
And as far as moving my tank across the midwest a few months ago, I just drained the water to about .25'' over the sand bed in order to keep the bacteria alive. Did the same thing with my refugium DSB.
Ofcourse everthing was stirred up for a day or two, but my levels never got out of norm. No need for rinsing your sandbed in fresh saltwater and destroying (or removing) much of the life that you have worked to grow in your sandbed over the life of the tank
I also kept all of the live rock wet in 5 gallon buckets, and used about 10% old tank water and 90% newly mixed when i put everything back together.
Absolutely! The whole point of "seeding" your sandbed is to add beneficial critters and bacteria to the system that you do not have, and will not get with "new live sand", unless you buy the really high end stuff (like what is sold on this site), and all you're doing when you buy the high end stuff is purchasing used sand out of somebody elses system. The bagged live sand you can purchase at your LFS has only bacteria in it, no other living creatures. Some critters will come with the LR, provided you get good quality LR, but not all.
The issue with Guppies tank was not the addition of sand, it was the volume and speed with which the sand was added, as well as the way she added it. Throughout the years I have exchanged sand with many different reefers to increase biodiversity and the genetic pool of organisms in my sandbed. As stated, don't allow it to sit, make the transfer immediately and don't completely cover the existing sandbed.
In your case OP, with dead sand on the bottom, I would aquire enough new sand to completely cover the dead if the seller will allow you that much and his tank looks healthy and is nice and clean. If not, any volume of good LS is enough to get you started with a new set-up. I would also add some sand out of your existing system as well. Replace the volume of sand you take out with an equal volume of dead sand - in the established tank, it will quickly become live. Just make sure to rinse the dead sand in saltwater (so it is wet and doesn't fly all over the tank) and spread it out over the sandbed (not more than 1/4" deep anywhere) and you will be fine.
.but if your gonna re-cycle your tank when its at its new location you wouldn't have anything to worry about.Thats kinda funny to buy all new sand because its still gonna have a spike when you get it in right?waste of money if you ask me
