Changes during fallow

[jd371]

I plan on pulling all the fish from the DT this weekend and going fallow because of Ich. I wasn't too happy with the aquascape or sand I used so I want to make changes while the tank is fallow.
At first I thought about removing all the Oolite sand and replacing it, but I think I'm going to remove an inch of the Oolite and just add the coarser sand over it. What's the best way to go about this and what precautions should I take because of the coral and CUC?

 

[Duke4Life]

How big of a tank? I'd take a small section of sand out daily and do this over a week (depends on how long tank has been up). Use a funnel and PVC when adding the new.

 

[donnievaz]

If you think you can do it fairly quickly (couple hours or so), I would just have some buckets or a big tub ready. Remove all the rock, coral, etc. and put in the tub or buckets then siphon enough water from the tank to cover it. Throw a heater and a powerhead in then get to work on the sand.

 

[jd371]

The tank is a 75gal that's been up and running 10 months now. I'm just worried about the 2 nems, coral, and CUC that's in there when I start stirring up the sand. The SB is about 2" deep.

 

[donnievaz]

The tank is a 75gal that's been up and running 10 months now. I'm just worried about the 2 nems, coral, and CUC that's in there when I start stirring up the sand. The SB is about 2" deep.

I don't think 10 months is enough time for anything too dangerous to be built up in the sand bed. You should be fine.

 

[jd371]

Great, thanks for the help.