Want to add some live sand need advice

[ROBERTCHAPA]

have 90 tank with some fish in it
want to add some live sand
i saw some at petsmart in bags is that good quality or where should i get some ?
can i just put it in the tank or what do i need to do to add the live sand to tank?

[DavidA717]

I got mine from petsmart, the Caribsea kind,and it has worked perfectly fine, tank has been up and running for 8 months now w/ no problems

[dileggi]

You should be fine to add it. Since the tank is already stocked, I would suggest adding it a little at a time, mabye a cup every few days, or a cup per week, and leave it in small mounds in the aquarium and let the fish etc spread it out.

I don't think you want to add all the sand at once becuase it's going to change the bio load in the tank and it may "shock" the tank if you add it all at once.

I would also check your water during this time to watch for amonia or nitrate spikes. Maybe keep a bottle of Amquel handy as an emergency and do water changes.

I seen someon post something the other day that said when adding the sand to an existing aquarium a good idea was to attach a piece of garden hose to a funnel. Pour the sand into the funnel and let it run the piece of hose to lay on the bottom. This will keep all the "floaters" down.

[Sk8r]

Fat tubing will work great on a funnel. Most everybody has some spare hose lying around. Just get it long enough to reach the bottom. That way you don't have any sandstorm floating through the system.