Least stressful way to go from Sand to BB?

chrissreef · 03/02/2006, 04:19 PM

I have 1-2" or so in the front of the tank heavily covered with Fungia, scolymia etc. I'm sure some detritus is in the sand... what's the least stressful way to remove this sand for the fish? Over 6 months? 3 months? all at once?

edit: I'm going BB because I've had better/cleaner tanks with that in the past... and now I have phosphates starting to show in my tests... coraline no longer grows either =/

xtrstangx · 03/02/2006, 04:22 PM

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showth...hreadid=650985

Enjoy. Sand sucks!

danferd2002 · 03/02/2006, 04:24 PM

i would siphon some out with your WC's

raynist · 03/02/2006, 04:25 PM

I sucked it all out in one night. The sand had only been in the tank for 2 months though.

--Ray

143gadgets · 03/02/2006, 08:45 PM

I had a SSB in my tank for over 8 months. I removed it all in one day with no ill effects. IMHO I would take it all out at once. I would not recommend doing it over time. You should have enough LR to counteract a cycle.HTH

Serioussnaps · 03/03/2006, 05:38 PM

Just pull one quarter of the sand bed space out per 10 days. Make sure you do it before the lights go off if you have coral and offer good particulate removal so the water will clear up before the lights come back on. Dont want to photoshock any invertebrates.

03/02/2006, 04:19 PM	#1
chrissreef Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Dallas Posts: 1,252	Least stressful way to go from Sand to BB? I have 1-2" or so in the front of the tank heavily covered with Fungia, scolymia etc. I'm sure some detritus is in the sand... what's the least stressful way to remove this sand for the fish? Over 6 months? 3 months? all at once? edit: I'm going BB because I've had better/cleaner tanks with that in the past... and now I have phosphates starting to show in my tests... coraline no longer grows either =/

03/02/2006, 04:22 PM	#2
xtrstangx Premium Member Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Shawnee, Kansas Posts: 4,568	http://reefcentral.com/forums/showth...hreadid=650985 Enjoy. Sand sucks!

03/02/2006, 04:24 PM	#3
danferd2002 Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: New Jersey Posts: 882	i would siphon some out with your WC's

03/02/2006, 04:25 PM	#4
raynist Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Pittsburgh, PA Posts: 4,921	I sucked it all out in one night. The sand had only been in the tank for 2 months though. --Ray

03/02/2006, 08:45 PM	#5
143gadgets Moved On Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Orlando, FL Posts: 3,151	I had a SSB in my tank for over 8 months. I removed it all in one day with no ill effects. IMHO I would take it all out at once. I would not recommend doing it over time. You should have enough LR to counteract a cycle.HTH

03/03/2006, 05:38 PM	#6
Serioussnaps Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: North Carolina Posts: 3,703	Just pull one quarter of the sand bed space out per 10 days. Make sure you do it before the lights go off if you have coral and offer good particulate removal so the water will clear up before the lights come back on. Dont want to photoshock any invertebrates.