Sand question......

[mennazeher04]

Hey everyone got another question but this one is about my sand. Right now me and my fiance are on the hunt to buy a home and when we finally buy our home i will have to move my 120gal from my moms house. My question is when i move everything can i just completely remove the sand all together or will that affect my tank to much. I am going back and forth between removing the sand or changing my white sand out to all black sand. Would either one of these be possible or will it just be more of a headache down the road. Thanks and hopefully everyone's answer will be what i want to hear. HAHA.:mrgreen:

 

[BL1]

By removing it all, do you mean having no sand at all in your tank? If so, then yes you can do that. Also, if you want to change out all the sand for black, you can do that as well. Neither one should cause to much of a headache.

 

[mennazeher04]

By removing it all, do you mean having no sand at all in your tank? If so, then yes you can do that. Also, if you want to change out all the sand for black, you can do that as well. Neither one should cause to much of a headache.

Yea Brian I have seen alot of tanks that dont have sand in them and I have seen alot that have black. I like both options but im thinking i like the sandless bottom the most because it helps to have less nasty build up in our tanks from i have heard.

 

[Smitty]

The option is up to you...you could go with the same sand, just rinse it well in some saltwater before placing it back in the tank. I personally wouldn't go sand less in a tank that size, the sand is visually pleasing, it helps buffer the water, give certain livestock comfort and security, and helps stabilize your rock work.

 

[mennazeher04]

The option is up to you...you could go with the same sand, just rinse it well in some saltwater before placing it back in the tank. I personally wouldn't go sand less in a tank that size, the sand is visually pleasing, it helps buffer the water, give certain livestock comfort and security, and helps stabilize your rock work.

The only reason I was thinking of going with a sandless bottom is because i have the hardest time trying to keep the sand clean. I have nassarius snails that are suppose to stir the sand but everytime i look in the tank (which is all the time...lol) i see their little snouts sticking out the sand and they are in the same spot. The only time I see them move is when i feed the tank. I actually think I might have too much sand in the DT. Right now I have about 2 and 1/2 maybe 3 inches of sand in there. What if I bring it down to about a 1/2 to 1 inches of sand would that still work?

 

[Smitty]

I think an inch of sand will be good..it's just enough to cover the bottom and keep the crap moving, but not enough to trap the crap.

 

[reeffreak]

No problem running a shallow 1/2-1'' sandbed.

 

[dcantucson]

Having changed out the substrate in all three of my tanks, this is what I would do Mike.
In the weeks prior to moving, I would siphon out with a large hose, a portion of the sand with each weekly water change. I would probably remove about 1/4 of it with each change (less if you have time for more water changes) until all sand is out and you are bare bottom. Then I would just run it without sand until you get it moved. Once moved I'd have the new sand rinsed and ready to go.

 

[mennazeher04]

Having changed out the substrate in all three of my tanks, this is what I would do Mike.
In the weeks prior to moving, I would siphon out with a large hose, a portion of the sand with each weekly water change. I would probably remove about 1/4 of it with each change (less if you have time for more water changes) until all sand is out and you are bare bottom. Then I would just run it without sand until you get it moved. Once moved I'd have the new sand rinsed and ready to go.

Thanks Dcan, I like that idea and i think im going to do it. Now the only other question is what do I do about the all the critters and stuff in the sand like bristleworms, nassirus snails, etc.? Do I try to pick them out carefully or.....? Thanks again.

 

[BL1]

The Nass snails should be easy, just drop some food in and they'll pop right out for you. I dunno about the other critters though

 

[the reef kid]

barebottom is nice because a) you don't have to clean it and b) you don't have to worry (as much) about picking up the rocks on the bottom and releasing a whole crapload of crap.

 

[mennazeher04]

got another question that i just thought of. Will my pink/blue spotted goby and my scooter blenny be ok without sand. I know for sure that my goby eats frozen food but my blenny never comes out to feed when im feeding to the other fish, he always just grazes the sand and rocks i guess for micro fauna.

 

[yote]

Your scooter will be fine without sand,but the goby may be another story.
Sand sifting fish may not get enough from diet of frozen food to live on.

 

[sen5241b]

There has never been any perfect way to keep sand clean and completely free of detritus and many a person has stirred up an older sand bed with too much detritus (or hydrogen sulfide) and started a livestock killing cycle. The low levels of nitrates and phosphates that your corals enjoy could depend on the beneficial bacteria in your sand so running without sand could be a problem.

Go with Dcan's suggestion and rinse the sand very well with used tank water. Because the sand holds a great deal of the beneficial bacteria, rinsing it with tap or even RO water will kill all of the bacteria and the sudden reduction in beneficial bacteria could cause a spike. Slowly add the sand back into the tank.