Crushed Coral to Sand. How should i do it?!?!?1

[Ranger NRK]

So I have crushed coral and at first I loved it; I didn't have problems but i just did a 20% water change and my nitrates really didn't change too much and im starting to get nervous about what everyone says with it being a nitrate factory. How should i go about switching my substrate so i don't crash my tank and what substrate should i put in its place? I have a 30 hex tall and iv got 2 clowns and several chromis, 25lbs of liverock.

 

[Hydrahawk]

Crushed coral are known to trap detritus/uneaten food. Don't change it all at once. I would do 1/3-1/2 at a time. I really like Caribsea Flamingo Reef and Fiji Pink Reef sand.

 

[russo36]

I'm new to the saltwater world... But after doing a lot of research
I went for the sand substrate... I kept freshwater fish for over 15 years
And it's real hard to lower your nitrates w crush coral you have to siphon the hell out of it

 

[breaknrun911]

Crushed coral are known to trap detritus/uneaten food. Don't change it all at once. I would do 1/3-1/2 at a time. I really like Caribsea Flamingo Reef and Fiji Pink Reef sand.

+1
Will you be using live sand? If you do make sure you rinse it thoroughly with fresh water prior to adding

 

[Ranger NRK]

i will probably go with live sand just so i can get some more bio filter in iv got my live rock and some benifical bacterica booster which should help kick start the new substrate but should i just fish everything out during a water change and scoop a certain amount of cc out and replace with sand and then get the rest during the next change or what lol sorry just not quiet understanding how im suppose to do the transfer

 

[breaknrun911]

It's going to be tough and cloud up ur tank pretty good. Your best bet is to do a regular water change but siphon a little bit heavier. What I mean is siphon half the tank but do I normal water change. Then take that half of substrate out and replace with new substrate. Then On your next scheduled water change do the same on the other half. Too large of a water change can cause a "re-cycle" of the tank get a few more opinions before jumping in. That's how I have done it in the past but everyone's tank and water chemistry is diff you may have diff effects than I had

 

[Hydrahawk]

i will probably go with live sand just so i can get some more bio filter in iv got my live rock and some benifical bacterica booster which should help kick start the new substrate but should i just fish everything out during a water change and scoop a certain amount of cc out and replace with sand and then get the rest during the next change or what lol sorry just not quiet understanding how im suppose to do the transfer

You don't need to spend the money on the live sand. If you change out 1/3-1/2 per month, your new sand will get seeded from your old CC. Just trying so save you some dough.

 

[breaknrun911]

You don't need to spend the money on the live sand. If you change out 1/3-1/2 per month, your new sand will get seeded from your old CC. Just trying so save you some dough.

Very true that didn't even cross my mind

 

[Ranger NRK]

so what should i use then? agronite (sorry if misspelled)

 

[Hydrahawk]

so what should i use then? agronite (sorry if misspelled)

Yes, aragonite. See what your LFS carrys. You can either buy it there or order it from places like Marine Depot.

 

[Ranger NRK]

so how deep should it be? i remember reading that there is an in between area of shallow and deep sand beds that poisoness or something and i want to avoid that.

 

[Hydrahawk]

Do you have any animals that requires a sand bed? With a 30 hex, I wouldn't go with a deep sand bed. I think 1" should be fine.

 

[Ranger NRK]

I have a couple hermits two clowns and a few chromis so no one who likes to burrow but would that mean I need to redo my intake length to get it closer to the bottom

 

[Mr. E Wrasse]

Whatever you do, dont do what I did haha. I took out gravel with a red solo cup and added sand in with a cup. Couldnt see anything for 2 days and somehow all my fish and coral were fine. This of course, being one of my newbie mistakes when I first started

 

[breaknrun911]

Your going to get cloudiness either way no matter how you do it. Best way is to use a net to prevent taking unwanted water out. To out sand in I used a cup filled it halfway wih sand then slowly lowered it into tank filling it with tank water lowering it to the bottom then dumping it out. I ha cloudiness for about 12hrs more water movement the better

 

[SeahorseKeeper]

When adding sand to an existing tank, I use a piece of PVC pipe and pour the sand into that to help reduce the sandstorm effect.