Questions regarding the upcoming upgrade

[koda_dad]

Sandbed... currently I have about 3" in my 33. I have been told that I should have 0.5 to an inch max. Now that my jawfish has passed on.... Thoughts?

Would you put eggcrate on the bottom glass?

Thanks

 

[PRC]

There's a debate over Deep sand Beds and shallow. I think you have to have more than that in order to help the nitrogen cycle. Biff was just talking about this the other day. I'll find the thread.


This is from Biff on another thread. Doesn't really answer the question.

+1 sen. That's why I don't understand, if you were already having problems with your sand, why did you switch it out for a deeper sandbed? You said your new sand was about 3 inches deep. That's the worst depth you can have. Anything between 1 inch and 6 inches is not deep enough to carry out nitrogen conversion as a deep sand bed, and is just a bad detritus and gas trap.

 

[yote]

Being as the tank is already established,I wouldnt touch that sand bed at all.Just stirring it could cause a tank crash.

 

[koda_dad]

Uh.. How do I move it without touching it :). I'll need to another 50lbs or sooo too

 

[yote]

Sorry,I mis-read.:D
I'd just place the base rock on the bottom of the new tank.
For moving the sand,I'd put it in 5 gallon buckets and use the water hose and WASH it until the water came out clean.
Yeah,you'll loose the bacteria and micro-life thats in the sand,but its better than the cycle that will most likely come on from just moving it.

 

[koda_dad]

So re-rinse the existing sand? or just rinse the new sand?

 

[yote]

The existing sand.Well actually,rinse the new but wash the existing.

 

[koda_dad]

the existing sand is only 7 months old? Do you think there would that much risk without rinsing it? Wouldn't the risk of starting a cycle be much worse?

 

[yote]

You'll be surprised at how much crap is in a 7 month old sand bed.
One thing you can bet on.If you move the exisiting sand without cleaning it,your gonna have a full blown cycle that will probably kill 90% of whats in the tank.
Thats why when we move and swap tanks around at the LFS,we always wash out the sand thats in em.

 

[koda_dad]

how much rinsing is required do you think>? time wise.... I mean

 

[dcantucson]

You could just siphon ALL your existing sand and replace it with new rinsed sand. That's what I did and I had no cycle at all. I just tossed the old mucky sand.

 

[yote]

how much rinsing is required do you think>? time wise.... I mean

I'd figure 10 to 15 minutes.30 at the most.You just want to get all the fine waste and detritus out.

You could just siphon ALL your existing sand and replace it with new rinsed sand. That's what I did and I had no cycle at all. I just tossed the old mucky sand.

Thats an option to.