Adding Sand

[bkhunt]

I have added on a drilled 10g frag tank to my current system that has been running for over 3 years. I was trying to do a bare bottom in the frag tank. I am having problems with algae on the bottom glass. I was thinking of adding a 1"-1.5" sand bed to the frag tank. It would serve two problems. 1. Will not have to look at algae and crud on bottom since it is sitting next to my display tank. 2. I could get rid of the ugly egg crate and just push the frag plugs into the sand bed since I only have a handful of frags usually. So my question is can I add all the sand at one time or should I do a few cups every few days/week?

 

[HaWrasser]

how large is the system that you plumbed it in to?if it is running on the same system do you see algae issues in the dt? i think you can add all the sand at once, it is a small 10g tank so it wont be that much sand. just turn off all the flow in the frag tank for a while to let it settle. since the tank is bare bottom i dont think it would it cause any problems i think the problem would be if you cover the entire layer of existing live sand in a tank there may be some issues with die off in the buried sand, but im not positive of that . also what kind of sand are you going to add?

 

[bkhunt]

my current system is a 90g with over 100lbs of rock and about a 3 inch sand bed. I a going to use a fine calcium sand. I have no algae in my DT the only place in my DT that I have some algae is in my built in overflow. My bristle tooth tang does a very good job of keeping tank free of algae.

 

[HaWrasser]

you've got a good amount of water volume and liverock in your system i think you will be ok adding the sand. what do you use for nutrient export? if anything you'll be increasing your bioload capacity with an additional live sand bed and more water volume is always good. you may have to fight some algae though either way. if your DT grows algae but your tang controls it chances are there will be some growth in the frag tank due to nutrients in the water, especially if the lighting on the frag tank is strong. i would say disconnect the frag tank from the system add the sand and let it settle out until the water is pretty clear. if you see a lot of algae issues in there then maybe you can move the frags to your display and or reduce the lighting schedule/intensity or reduce the nutrients you put into the system. your tank is mature so i wouldnt expect that much algae.

 

[HaWrasser]

i hope i helped you out a bit with my thoughts! good luck with the frag tank. post up a picture id like to see your system and new frag setup!