I hate my black sand, any tips on replacing it?

[dwculp]

I have a 29 gallon FOWLR with the following:

1 Clarkii
2 Azure Damsels
1 Bicolor dottyback
1 Fighting conch
5 Astrea Snails
4 Nassarius
10-15 micro hermits

I decided when I set it up I wanted to try black sand. I have decided I hate it and am thinking about replacing it. Getting it out is easy, just siphon it out during a water change.

However, how to replace it with white sand without causing a major sand storm? Drain the tank and put the sand in, then put the water back?

Any better ideas?

[jenjen]

You can use a piece of PVC to direct the new sand to the bottom, or a large ziplock style baggie to place the sand on the bottom.

[MandM]

I've replaced substrate in a tank. Messy but doable.
It's going to be hard to not have a bit of a sandstorm and clouding. Assuming you have the black sand out and the live rock sitting on the bare tank bottom:
Get ready for a water change, mix up enough for a 20/30% and get some clean rubbermaid tubs or buckets. Gullable friends to haul buckets and towels are a good idea too. some fresh carbon in a reactor would be a good idea, you will be stirring up a lot of gunk.
Rinse the new sand very well in fresh water and have it in a clean bucket.
Turn off your circulation pumps and drain out about 10% into a bucket or brute container.
use the old tank water to gently rinse the new sand again and when it's not making a lot of cloud, start scooping it gently into the display tank. The PVC tube may work out well for this, I've just gently taken the scoop down to the bottom and slowly poured it in small piles. When you have the sand where you want it, you will likely have some cloudy water that you can siphon out and replace with that clean salt water. Run the circulation pump again and run the carbon. Depending on what your filter looks like, you may want to do another 10% change the following day or so.

[Aquarist007]

Originally Posted by MandM

I've replaced substrate in a tank. Messy but doable.
It's going to be hard to not have a bit of a sandstorm and clouding. Assuming you have the black sand out and the live rock sitting on the bare tank bottom:
Get ready for a water change, mix up enough for a 20/30% and get some clean rubbermaid tubs or buckets. Gullable friends to haul buckets and towels are a good idea too. some fresh carbon in a reactor would be a good idea, you will be stirring up a lot of gunk.
Rinse the new sand very well in fresh water and have it in a clean bucket.
Turn off your circulation pumps and drain out about 10% into a bucket or brute container.
use the old tank water to gently rinse the new sand again and when it's not making a lot of cloud, start scooping it gently into the display tank. The PVC tube may work out well for this, I've just gently taken the scoop down to the bottom and slowly poured it in small piles. When you have the sand where you want it, you will likely have some cloudy water that you can siphon out and replace with that clean salt water. Run the circulation pump again and run the carbon. Depending on what your filter looks like, you may want to do another 10% change the following day or so.

+1 on this post but I usually skip the water change