Do I move the Live Sand??

[civitan.erichanson]

I am buying Bethesda Jim's 75G tank and moving it next week . He has 3-4 inches of live sand in the tank. Call me cheap, but I do not want to buy new sand -- that said what would you recommend (to include buying more sand and if so where?).

 

Oh and I could use some help!!

 

Thank you,

 

Eric.

Edited May 1, 2008 by civitan.erichanson

[lanman]

I am buying Bethesda Jim's 75G tank and moving it next week . He has 3-4 inches of live sand in the tank. Call me cheap, but I do not want to buy new sand -- that said what would you recommend (to include buying more sand and if so where?)

 

Thank you,

 

Eric.

 

I would recommend buying new sand

 

However - if you need to save the money, my NEXT suggestion would be to take about 2 cups of the sand and keep it 'live' in your system, a bucket of warm salt water, whatever. Take the rest of the sand and wash it thoroughly - run water through it, drain off the top, run more, drain - over and over again. You will never (well, within any reasonable amount of time) get all of the crap out of it - but at least you'll be starting with fairly clean sand. Put that sand in, and then sprinkle the couple of cups of sand you held back on it. It should perk up real fast.

 

Last choice - but possible - drain the tank as far as you can without disturbing the sand overmuch. Dig a hole in the sand to siphon or pump from. Then it MIGHT be light enough to carry in the tank. And very gently fill it - trying not to disturb it any more.

 

bob

[civitan.erichanson]

Where do you buy sand and what type?

 

If I go the second route (wash it) how long should I delay placing the live rock, coral and fish back in the tank?

 

I assume the issue here is that disturbing the sand will release toxic gas?

 

Thanks,

 

Eric.

 

I would recommend buying new sand

 

However - if you need to save the money, my NEXT suggestion would be to take about 2 cups of the sand and keep it 'live' in your system, a bucket of warm salt water, whatever. Take the rest of the sand and wash it thoroughly - run water through it, drain off the top, run more, drain - over and over again. You will never (well, within any reasonable amount of time) get all of the crap out of it - but at least you'll be starting with fairly clean sand. Put that sand in, and then sprinkle the couple of cups of sand you held back on it. It should perk up real fast.

 

Last choice - but possible - drain the tank as far as you can without disturbing the sand overmuch. Dig a hole in the sand to siphon or pump from. Then it MIGHT be light enough to carry in the tank. And very gently fill it - trying not to disturb it any more.

 

bob

[lanman]

Where do you buy sand and what type?

 

If I go the second route (wash it) how long should I delay placing the live rock, coral and fish back in the tank?

 

I assume the issue here is that disturbing the sand will release toxic gas?

 

Thanks,

 

Eric.

It will release a lot of nitrates and other 'gunk' into the tank. The longer it's been used, the more stuff it's likely to have in it.

 

Taking the second route - you can and should put the live rock back in the tank immediately. Check the water to make sure it's within reasonable parameters, and you can put the rest of the stuff in, too. Especially if you have a good skimmer. The sand bed grows anaerobic bacteria which helps remove nitrates. Or at least that's how my grandpappy explained it to me. With a good skimmer you shouldn't have much nitrates to remove.

 

bob

[civitan.erichanson]

Since I will kill everything when I wash the sand - should I invest in a clean up crew?

 

Thanks again,

 

Eric.

 

It will release a lot of nitrates and other 'gunk' into the tank. The longer it's been used, the more stuff it's likely to have in it.

 

Taking the second route - you can and should put the live rock back in the tank immediately. Check the water to make sure it's within reasonable parameters, and you can put the rest of the stuff in, too. Especially if you have a good skimmer. The sand bed grows anaerobic bacteria which helps remove nitrates. Or at least that's how my grandpappy explained it to me. With a good skimmer you shouldn't have much nitrates to remove.

 

bob

[lanman]

Since I will kill everything when I wash the sand - should I invest in a clean up crew?

 

Thanks again,

 

Eric.

 

Ummm... you mean hermits and snails? I figure you would be getting some of those, anyhow. You will be washing away most of the little starfish and stuff - but if you don't spend all day at it, I wouldn't be surprised if some of them live through the process! Tough little buggers.

 

bob

[civitan.erichanson]

Yes - that is what I mean.

 

Ummm... you mean hermits and snails? I figure you would be getting some of those, anyhow. You will be washing away most of the little starfish and stuff - but if you don't spend all day at it, I wouldn't be surprised if some of them live through the process! Tough little buggers.

 

bob

[Grav]

What Bob said.... like he is reading out loud from my book... except I wouldn't do option 3 under any circumstance unless it was a 10g tank.

 

Did you read my book Bob?

[lanman]

What Bob said.... like he is reading out loud from my book... except I wouldn't do option 3 under any circumstance unless it was a 10g tank.

 

Did you read my book Bob?

 

I didn't know you had a book... but I studied at your knee, master.

 

bob

[Grav]

LOL

 

Was thinking you could give it back... been looking for it.

[treesprite]

i got used sand a while back (the sand I just got is new though) and I washed washed washed until when stirring it up, the dust was so minmal that it settled within a few second... before I could eeven get my hand in to re-stir. I lost a LOT of sand down the drain. When I put the sand in the tank though, given how :dust free" it was, I had almost no cloud in the water, though part of that is the way I put the sand in.

[lanman]

i got used sand a while back (the sand I just got is new though) and I washed washed washed until when stirring it up, the dust was so minmal that it settled within a few second... before I could eeven get my hand in to re-stir. I lost a LOT of sand down the drain. When I put the sand in the tank though, given how :dust free" it was, I had almost no cloud in the water, though part of that is the way I put the sand in.

 

A hint - based on my good experience setting up my 58 and 240; if you are using new, dry sand - lay a plastic bag (stiffer is better) on the sand, and a dinner plate on the plastic bag - and pour your water onto that until you have a good amount of water in the tank. It will help keep from stirring things up.

 

bob

[civitan.erichanson]

Treesprite,

 

what was your method?

 

Also if I have pure base rock (which I doubt everything looks like it has something fun growing on it), do I set that in the tank before I add the sand?

 

i got used sand a while back (the sand I just got is new though) and I washed washed washed until when stirring it up, the dust was so minmal that it settled within a few second... before I could eeven get my hand in to re-stir. I lost a LOT of sand down the drain. When I put the sand in the tank though, given how :dust free" it was, I had almost no cloud in the water, though part of that is the way I put the sand in.

[lanman]

Treesprite,

 

what was your method?

 

Also if I have pure base rock (which I doubt everything looks like it has something fun growing on it), do I set that in the tank before I add the sand?

 

Up to you... you don't want the rock to 'die' ... so you CAN do it that way if you plan to put the sand in right away, and then put in enough water to cover the rock, and you will have some circulation and heat soon thereafter.

 

If you are just free-forming your aquascaping as you go along - you can put the sand in first and push/twist the bottom rocks down well into it so nothing shifts later. You never know what's in your future... surprise, surprise when I found out my yellow-headed sleeper goby not only 'sifts' sand ... he likes to dig caves into it like an engineer goby! Dude can move a lot of sand!

 

bob

[WallyBackm]

Bob, good advice. I am slowly getting my new 120 ready and will transfer over all my corals/fish/inverts/rock from my 72 to it w/i a month or so. I imagine I should be getting new sand for the 120 (since it will be the last to leave the 72) and seed the new sand with my 72 sand? And then toss the rest of it or wash it and use it?

[wreck]

When I did my tank, I placed short pieces of pvc pipe on the bottom of the tank to rest my rocks on, then added my sand. My clownfish did a lot of fanning of the sand, down to the bare bottom in some places and my rocks didn't shift at all.

Wreck

[civitan.erichanson]

Wreck,

 

I can not picture this - you set it on PVC Pipe? Did you slice the pipe in half or was it very small diameter stuff?

 

When I did my tank, I placed short pieces of pvc pipe on the bottom of the tank to rest my rocks on, then added my sand. My clownfish did a lot of fanning of the sand, down to the bare bottom in some places and my rocks didn't shift at all.

Wreck

[treesprite]

I like that bag and plate idea better than mine - would work much faster I bet.... that's how I'll try it next time.

[Guest webshout]

Wreck,

 

I can not picture this - you set it on PVC Pipe? Did you slice the pipe in half or was it very small diameter stuff?

 

Another option is to use eggcrate (light diffuser panel) on the bottom, then place rock and then add sand. eggcrate will protect the bottomof the tank in case of rock shift.

 

Have fun.

[wreck]

The first time I did it I used like 3/8" pvc pipe about 6" long and made like a triangle shape stack, two peices on the bottom and one on top and zip tied them together. I used two of these stacks per base rock. On my other tank i just used 1&1/2" pipe but had to put some sand on the bottom to keep the pvc from rolling around while I placed the rock. I find this to work well to keep the rock off the bottom and to keep the rock stable in case of sand sifting critters.

Wreck

 

Wreck,

 

I can not picture this - you set it on PVC Pipe? Did you slice the pipe in half or was it very small diameter stuff?