Upgrade sand question

[Silverni2]

Going from 90 to 120 gallon tank do I use my current sand bed as is? Do I clean it then put it back in? Or just toss it and buy new? Current substrate is not sand I think it's crushed shells only about an 1" deep. I do have a deep sand bed in a 30 gallon fug that it will not be touching, hooking into new tank.
Thx

 

[Imbarrie]

I would go with a new substrate of finer sand. Nothing too fine or it stays in suspension but anything too coarse will trap particles and detritus that will increase maintenance.

 

[tangy84]

I would go with a new substrate of finer sand. Nothing too fine or it stays in suspension but anything too coarse will trap particles and detritus that will increase maintenance.

Do you think the tank will cycle, if you have enough rock in the tank? Sorry to hijack the thread, but I'm moving a 180 and I wanted to know if I should keep the old sand or get new one.

 

[Imbarrie]

The tank will cycle again depending on the amount of LR, there are processes that occur in the sand bed that need to re-establish themselves before you achieve equilibrium again. If you have enough LR then you should have a buffer enough to minimize the cycle so it wont be as drastic as starting fresh.

Reusing your sand bed is up to you. Some people do and some dont.
Definately stay away from a coarse substrate either way you go.

JMO

 

[tangy84]

Would it be a good idea to have a dsb into display and cc in the fuge?

 

[Imbarrie]

This has been pretty much hijacked at this point, I hope the OP does not mind.

All my opinion here but I would not use CC anywhere.

If you are trying to use a substrate to grow beneficial bacteria then you want to increase surface area. Using CC is not as efficient as a finer grain substrate. You will increase the amount of growing area for the bacteria because there is more of it. You will also give less opportunity for uneaten food to fall into the gaps and rot which will be detrimental to tank stability.

I think a DSB in the DT is taking up prime space for display items. You get a large enough tank and then fill the bottom 4-6 inches with sand and you have less room for the things you want in your tank. Unless you want to see a DSB in your tank. I am starting a 150 that is 30 inches tall. I will be counter sinking the tank into the stand so I can cheat on a substrate by an inch but I will still keep the sand down to 3-4 inches. Though it will drift to 5-6 in places.
In most tanks I would put the DSB in the sump or fuge area.
It seems to me, and this maybe just me, that DSB tanks are not as popular as they were two years ago. I will still probably use a DSB in my sump's fuge section.

 

[tangy84]

One last question, If the fuge already have a DSB, can I lower the water during the move and just set it up again when I get back or should I change it as well? I know I'm asking a lot of question, but I want the life in the sand to be there, but if it will hurt the system then I will change it. It's not about being cheap. And thank you for keeping up with all the question, greatly appreciate it.

 

[Imbarrie]

Depends how much it gets shaken around during the move.

 

[tangy84]

Ok thank you very much.

 

[tangy84]

one more question, Live or plain sand? Which will reduce the cycle time

 

[Silverni2]

Sorry to steal my thread back but..... Lol!
Barrie when you talk about sand for the bottom of the dt can you be specific? I currently have crushed coral in the dt approx 1" at it's deepest point, in the fug I have cruched coral 5 to 6" deep which I'm going to leave nut again be specific on what type of sand for the display tank.
Thx

 

[tangy84]

Lol

 

[Imbarrie]

Depends what you like. I feel that crushed coral traps detritus so I went with something finer.
Actually got it from another reefer so I don't know the grade but I'll look around.