How to add sandbed and clean rock

[r.magnotti822]

2 questions if I may. Want to add a sand bed to an existing reef, been running for years, and need to clean some rock, covered in sponges and stuff. I’m thinking of adding live sand Carib-sea Arag-alive, and running a power washer over live rock. Enough to clean outside of the rock but not enough to kill all the life within the rock, seems easier then scrubbing but would it be a terrible idea? Let me know what y’all think!!

[YHSublime]

When it comes to cleaning the live rock, it's my opinion that you should probably just clean it all and start fresh if it's that bad. The tap water isn't going to be awesome for the tank once it's done. I've added sand to an existing tank that was bare bottom, it was cloudy for a day or so, but everything was fine. YMMV. 

[BtmDweller]

I’ve doubled the sand in my 165 when adding in a diamond goby. Just put in a fee scoops each day until I had as much as I wanted. You could soak in used tank water and then put in if you’re adding a ton.

 

You may want to think about what caused the stuff on the rock. Possibly nutrient reduction, increased water changes, less feeding, blowing out the sump or areas of detritus, etc. RODI quality.

 

Pressure cleaning the rock may only be a temporary fix. If you do remove and get full of tap water, soak in water in a Rubbermaid of used tank water before putting back in.

 

 

 

 

[treesprite]

If you rinse the sand well enough, you won't get much cloud regardless of how you add it to the tank.

 

I use a tall, long plastic spaghetti container to add sand. Fill it up, hold the open end against the side wall, slide down to the bottom of the tank and let the sand out. Turn the container upright so the foggy water doesn't all end up in the tank, then lift out of tank with all the water still in it (adding the sand will cause some amount of displacement anyway).

 

Adding a picture of how to hold container.

Edited December 8, 2019 by treesprite