Sand removal!

[SneakyTortuga]

hello R2R!

has anyone taken the sand out of your tank after having it in for a year+? what side effects did you notice? negative? positive?

i know this is a loaded question depending on...
how old is the sand?
how deep is the sand bed?
has the sand ever been siphoned?
did you remove all the sand at once?
what other forms of nutrient reduction is in the tank?
etc

i just want to know what other peoples experiences with this has been.

thank you
-Dan

 

[hdsoftail1065]

@Flippers4pups could probably share his experience on sand removal.

 

[Fritzhamer]

I’ve done it a few times without any issue. I siphon it out when doing a water change. If anything were disturbed, it’s removed.

 

[SneakyTortuga]

I’ve done it a few times without any issue. I siphon it out when doing a water change. If anything were disturbed, it’s removed.

thats what i figured would be the best way. did you remove all at once or slowly over time?

 

[Flippers4pups]

I'm still in the process of removal. With regular water changes i do, which is around 10 gallons a week, I just take out small amounts at a time.

No change with corals. Now I do have wrasses that sleep in the sand bed, so leaving a small amount of sand is needed.

I'm replacing my sand bed, so that will be done in small sections as well till done.

 

[SneakyTortuga]

I'm still in the process of removal. With regular water changes i do, which is around 10 gallons a week, I just take out small amounts at a time.

No change with corals. Now I do have wrasses that sleep in the sand bed, so leaving a small amount of sand is needed.

I'm replacing my sand bed, so that will be done in small sections as well till done.

thats what ive been in the process of. with my weekly 10 gallon water change ive been removing small portions of sand

 

[Justfebreezeit]

I removed my sandbed in my 20gal over a month or so with weekly water changes as well. It was only and inch or so deep at the most and no noticeable difference to corals. It was probably only 7-8 months old at the time.

 

[Fritzhamer]

thats what i figured would be the best way. did you remove all at once or slowly over time?

I’ve done it both ways, many times.

 

[SneakyTortuga]

I’ve done it both ways, many times.

no negative side effects?

 

[Fritzhamer]

Not if you are siphoning it out.

 

[shark keeper]

I removed all of the sand from my 180. I cannot stress enough the comments of take it slow. I probably went overboard but it took me a little over two month to remove all of mine. It had been in the tank for years.

 

[Phycodurus]

I also have a 180G, and I’ve also been contemplating removing my 1”-2” of sand in small increments over a month or two.

On the flip side, if I regret the look, I guess one can reintroduce sand via a funnel and an acrylic pipe (for the hard-to-reach areas).

 

[Flippers4pups]

Great thread! Lots of good info!

 

[Phycodurus]

Dan, I meant to add that if you have any concerns on parameters, you can always test later that day or the next day after pulling out -x- quantity of sand so that you can track any shifts in basic parameters (pH, NH₃, NO₂- NO₃-).