Old sand; replace, extract, or keep?

JotaDe · 03/01/2006, 12:12 PM

I've been wondering what you all do with your sandbed after several years of use?
So my 29 Gal. reef has had 20 lbs of sand for about 2.5 years. Haven't added or reduced it's amount. Honestly I haven't checked my ph levels in months because the tank is doing great.
I think I remember reading an article from Bob Fenner that you should replace a certain amount of your sandbed after 'x' number of years because it loses it's calcium and isn't as adept at buffering the water to keep a stable ph balance - although I do have about 25 lbs of LR in the tank as well. I've searched these forums but haven't found a thread that's discussing this.

So my question for RC is what do you all do with your sandbed after it's been used for a couple years; leave it (if it's not broke don't fix it), replace some of the sand with new sand, or even remove some of the sand?

I actually wouldn't mind having less sand in my tank, so I'd be happy removing a pound here or there to make it look more bare bottom. Unfortunately I'm not home to test the ph level right now, but will tonight.

03/01/2006, 12:12 PM	#1
JotaDe Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: Los Gatos, California Posts: 344	Old sand; replace, extract, or keep? I've been wondering what you all do with your sandbed after several years of use? So my 29 Gal. reef has had 20 lbs of sand for about 2.5 years. Haven't added or reduced it's amount. Honestly I haven't checked my ph levels in months because the tank is doing great. I think I remember reading an article from Bob Fenner that you should replace a certain amount of your sandbed after 'x' number of years because it loses it's calcium and isn't as adept at buffering the water to keep a stable ph balance - although I do have about 25 lbs of LR in the tank as well. I've searched these forums but haven't found a thread that's discussing this. So my question for RC is what do you all do with your sandbed after it's been used for a couple years; leave it (if it's not broke don't fix it), replace some of the sand with new sand, or even remove some of the sand? I actually wouldn't mind having less sand in my tank, so I'd be happy removing a pound here or there to make it look more bare bottom. Unfortunately I'm not home to test the ph level right now, but will tonight.