Sand Question

Jschoon

Jschoon

Reefing newb
Not too sure where to post this question so I will start it here. Mods, please relocate if necessary.

I currently have a crushed coral base in my 35 gal tank of about 2 inches deep. I would really like to change to a sand base. Mainly just for the looks of it, nothing else. :D I am looking for 2 things to help me decide. First, what are the pros and cons of this change and second, if I do it, what is the best way to go about it?

Ok, third... suggestion on type of sand to use would be nice...


Thanks all,
Joe
 
well, i would definately change it, but i need more information before making a suggestion on how to do it.. how old is the tank we're talking about? how much rock do you have, and how is it stocked?

i ask these questions, cause if its a new tank, and theres no one in it, then i'd just do it all at once, and be done with it, if there are critters/fish and or whatnot in it, then i would say do it in small stages of no more than about 10-20% every few days... thing is that you dont wanna upset the "ballance" in the tank and if you go stirring the substrate, you're asking for problems...

if you can, i would almost suggest using a gravel syphon, and a "kidie" plastic sand shovel, use the syphon to suck up the clowd of crap your gonna stir up, and use the shovel to actually move the old substrate out...

if your into making your own rock, then you can save the crushed coral for that, otherwise, unless you have plans for it, you might think of selling it cheap to someone that does (nudge nudge hint hint) :)
 
The tank is about 2 years old, and after moving it and losing almost everything I have about 5 snails, 2 large patches of star polyps, one candycane, and about 25 pounds of live rock. I am looking to restock now that the environment has settled down and all die off is complete.
 
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yea, well, then i'd probably do it half and half with a couple days inbetween, just be carefull of the corals...

do you know yet what your gonna put in to replace the crushed coral?
i would suggest aragonite(spelling?) and i would end up with something around the size of beach sand, give or take, maybe a little smaller... thing is that the smaller you go, the "better" the filtration and whatnot it will have(it'll hold more bacteria) but the more likely it is to be blown around and held in suspension by your powerheads and stuff, too big, and you have the same issue as the crushed coral, too biga "grains" just trap fish poo...

i used the caribsea "live sand" in a plastic bag, kept wet.... maybe not the best to choose, but it has served me well thus far....

just as a side note, sounds like your on the light side of the 1.5lbs of LR recommended per gallon.... any thoughts of increasing that any time soon?
 
You should definitely change it out. There are really no advantages to crushed coral -- it traps detritus and crap because the particle sizes are so large, and it's difficult to keep clean because sifting animals don't like to live in it.

Since you don't have any fish, your risks are minimal. I'd either change it all out at once or do half and half. Your tank is relatively small, so you may want to remove the rocks to do it. If not, just leave the rocks in and scoop the crushed coral out as best as you can.

You can use any type of aragonite sand. Your tank will be cloudy for a few days afterwards, but that won't hurt any of your animals. It will settle eventually.
 
thanks I am going to check with my LFS and see if they have any sand, if not I will probably order from Dr. Fosters/Smith.

Any recomendations on the amount? pound per gal?
 
ok, to sum things up... I am going to be building a 10 gal sump with Santa Monica's "scrubber" in it and I am going to begin changing from crushed coral to sand. I am still thinking about painting the back of the tank black, but I am not 100% sure yet that I want to. I am going to continue adding LR until I have about another 10 to 15 pounds for a total of close to 40 pounds when done. I am going to sketch up the sump plans that I have in mind soon and post up some pics.

I am getting over my disgust and anger from the crash I had from having to move the tank. Lost all 5 fish, 5 assorted corals, many snails and grew a great crop of bubble algea...

But I am having fun and ready to play again...

Joe
 
You are better off ordering from Drs. F & S anyways. Their sand will be half the price of what your LFS is selling it for, and they have a flat shipping rate for ground deliveries, and it's super cheap.
 
+1 Project and Biff.
Also,Dont buy the "LIVE" sand.Your just paying extra for something may or may not be in there.Just get 30 to 40 pounds of dry aragonite.Rinse the piss out of it untill the rinse water runs clear.Then if you just fill a gallon sized freezer bag with the sand,you can close the bag,sink it to the bottom of the tank,open it slowly and slowly ease the sand out,the clouding will be minimal and probably completely clear up in an hour or so.
 
here is my sump design for my 10 gal sump. it is not to scale.
 

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  • Sump Design 1.jpg
    Sump Design 1.jpg
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That is what I was looking at but when I sent an email to them they suggested the other. I think I will go with the one you suggest. I think it will look and function better.
 
i dont see anything particularly wrong with the sump design that you posted, but there are a few things that you should think about...

the height of the tripple baffels on the left end will set how deep the water is in the main section, where you'r "scrubber" is listed... so if it requires 8 inches of water, then you need to know that before you put in the baffels..

also, the return pump section on the farthest left end of the drawing, this is the section where you will see your evaporative losses... this is where you will be adding your top off water, and where, you need to know how much evap loss you have each day, if your gonna use an ATO, and how much volume you plan to have in that section..

just an example... lets say that area is 10 inches wide, 5 inches deep, and 5 inches wide, then that area can hold just over 1 gallon of water((10*5*5)/231)=1.08.. now lets say that the pump that you use for the return pump has it's intake at 3 inches above the bottom of the pump. well, now you have a water volume that is 10 iches wide, 2 inches deep, and 5 inches wide. thats .43 gallons of water.... if you are evaporating .5 gallons every 12 hours, like i do with mine, then your gonna need to either have an ATO or increase the "reserve" volume in this section of the sump...or your pump will run dry about every 12 hours...

just something for you to think about.
 
thanks, I did not think about the evaporation rate. I will have to track it.
... I say this after I just topped off my tank moments ago...
 
yote;260791Also said:
My feeling exactly. I know I`ve changed out substrates for other people. I agree with doing it in sections. Do it in halfs or thirds. I would just siphon out the CC substrate section and just rinse some dry sand and slide it down a PVC pipe to where you want it. This will help to eliminate the sand storm that usually comes. It wont get rid of all the storm but most of it anyway.
Click to expand...
 
The link that David posted for the sand,is what I've got in my tank.I like it,but it does have one drawback.When you start pumping up a lot of water flow,it tends to blow around.But other than that,its good sand.
 

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