Saturday Mission

[gnelson]

My current 100G reef has be setup for about 1 year. The nitrates are starting to creep up and I'm changing over to a DSB this weekend. I am taking out the CC.
I bought 250 lbs of southdown tropical sand and I am going to use only this. No LS. I currently have about 90 lbs of LR and many small crabs and other creatures. I currently have the sand in a trash can with RO salt water waiting for the weekend.
What I want to do is save my bio-load creatures, running the cc I take out through a sifter and putting a good amount of the tank and throw the CC away. I have tons of bacteria and small creatures back in the different pods swimming freely at night, and I don't want to lose the good creatures and go through a cycle. I also have a good amount of bio balls in the sump, that I will slowly get rid of after I know the tank is not going to cycle because of the change. I am changing the sump to a refugium later. But for now I want to save the bacteria that is living in the sump.
What do you think? Is this possible? I have read views in both ways. When I see the LS that my LFS has for sale in a bag, I just think that I will be able to remove more life from my CC than I would get from buying all that LS and spending a fortune.
Thanks in advance for your help.
Graham

 

[up north hermit]

Hi Graham,
You can achieve your goal, but IMO you will have a SMALL cycle, it is inevitable as there will be die-off, and everything has to settle down.
I did exactly what you are about to do, and had a very minimal cycle. And believe me, it doesn't take long for the creatures to multiply. I recently set up a reef only 40 gal. and used 150 lbs of oolitic sand, seeded with my own LS from my 125. There was hardly ANY cycle, in a brand new set up! So yes, I think you can achieve this, quite successfully. I even left a few pieces of the CC in ontop of the fines, just for some natural "boulders". I already have feather dusters all over the place in this new tank, and it is only 14 days old.
So, go for it. My only advice is to NOT be in any hurry. Take your time. Be prepared, and it sounds like you are.
My humble .02
Hermit

 

[gnelson]

Thanks Up North Hermit,
Thanks for the advice. Looks like you were successful and I'm going to try it. If anyone else has any advice I would like to hear it. Thanks
Graham