Removing old sand completely from existing tank and adding new sand

[pnether32]

Hello everyone! New to reef keeping and had a quick question. I read many threads regarding substrate and before i actually do this in the next few days I wanted to get a quick opinion so i don't screw things up. I have an existing 60g cube tank that has been up until October 2017 was a FOWLR tank with fine sand. Sand is going everywhere esp with siphoning the tank and decided to change it up to Caribsea special grade reef ready sand after looking at my LFS display tank and going to WWC in orlando.

I am going with the shallow sand bed 1.5-2 inches. I have siphoned out half of the fine sand from the existing bed last week with the water change and I will be siphoning out the existing sand tomorrow. I have the caribsea already - 40lbs of sand. what should I do next is my question. Should i rinse the live sand and add sand 10lbs at a time? Dump the whole thing in the tank? I have 30lbs of live rock already in the tank, marine pure 8x8x1 in the sump and I'm still using bio-balls (I know). Tank has been running for a year. I only have a yellow tang right now. And a few LPS corals i.e. torch and frogspawn.

thanks for the help in advance!

 

[Swoody]

If it were me, I would.....Rinse the live sand anyway , even though it says you don't have to. This will reduce the silicates that enter the tank. I would siphon out a section to where you can at least see the glass through any remaining sand and add over that section with the new. I would do it that way over a period of a few days...section at a time until finished.

 

[samnaz]

I second rinsing the new sand.

 

[pnether32]

Awesome...thank you so much for your advice!!!

 

[AdamNC]

If you rinse the live sand, it is no longer live. Unless you rinse it in salt water, and that’s going to be a lot. All the bacteria in the live sand lives in salt water, not tap/fresh water. Of all the tanks I’ve owned I’ve never had an issue dumping straight in and using the clarifying packet it comes with. Usually cloudy for about 2-3 days. When I add more to an existing tank I’ll usually do a little bit every day.

 

[pnether32]

If you rinse the live sand, it is no longer live. Unless you rinse it in salt water, and that’s going to be a lot. All the bacteria in the live sand lives in salt water, not tap/fresh water. Of all the tanks I’ve owned I’ve never had an issue dumping straight in and using the clarifying packet it comes with. Usually cloudy for about 2-3 days. When I add more to an existing tank I’ll usually do a little bit every day.

Thank you so much for your response. Another question is if I put the live sand in without rinsing will it effect the corals? Or have a spike in tank parameters? If I rinse the live sand will I have enough bacteria to cover and not have a spike? I’m ok with losing the bacteria in the live sand if rinsing and doing it in sections if it means no spike or new cycle.

Thoughts???

 

[AdamNC]

Thank you so much for your response. Another question is if I put the live sand in without rinsing will it effect the corals? Or have a spike in tank parameters? If I rinse the live sand will I have enough bacteria to cover and not have a spike? I’m ok with losing the bacteria in the live sand if rinsing and doing it in sections if it means no spike or new cycle.

Thoughts???

If the whole lot is put in at once it may spike, hence why I only do a little bit at a time as to not shock the system. Rinsed sand, I don't know but can only assume it may shock the system somewhat if just dumped in.

 

[TerraFerma]

Do not rinse your live sand. It is meant to go straight in. You can dump it all in at once. Your water will cloud up for about 6 hours but after that it’s crystal clear and your non rinsed live sand will go to work. The bacteria on the live sand helps weigh it down and prevents it from kicking up. Rinsing it, even in my seasoned tank water, will accomplish nothing at best.

 

[ChrisRD]

You can try adding the sand using a piece of large diameter PVC pipe as a "funnel" that is long enough to get the sand placed down near the bottom rather than dumping it in...helps minimize clouding. Some people use plastic bags (i.e. put sand in bag, submerge bag down near bottom, slowly dump out sand) haven't tried that method. Of course, whatever method you use, having pumps off during the process will also help.