I currently have a crushed coral substrate about 3" deep. After being on the forum for a while, it seems as if most people like the Southdown sand bed. How can I change my substrate? Can I just add the right sand in small bits on top of my current setup? What is the best way to migrate to the sand bed, which from what I have seen in this forum will be better in the long run for growing critters? I don't want to take down my whole reef. I wouldn't mind increasing the thickness of my DSB a little bit, maybe up to 4"?!?
Crushed coral to Southdown DSB?
- Thread starter dvb
- Start date
You could add the new sand on top of the CC. The coarser CC will work to the surface as the finer sand settles, however, so that any disturbance of the sandbed will result in the CC on top, again. The advantage of adding to the CC will be in keeping most of the infauna and bacteria already in the CC, and less chance of causing a cycling of the tank by completely changing out the CC with sterile sand. HTH
I'm in the middle of converting my cc bed to a 3-4" sand bed in my 120g tank. I'm adding one 30lb bag of sand (Caribsea aragonite sugar sand, no Sowthdown up here 
) at a time, then waiting approx. one month before adding the next bag. This allow the critters and beneficial bacteria time to colonize the sand bed. For each of the first two bags, I just moved the cc over to one side, making room for the sand. Now that this partial sand bed is establishing itself (already full of tiny worms), I'll remove enough cc to make room for the next bag of sand when I put it in in about two weeks. I'll repeat the process every month until the bed is completely changed.
So far, no ammonia or nitrite spikes, no visible effect on the fish or corals. My brittle stars quickly moved over to the sand bed and won't go near the cc anymore.
) at a time, then waiting approx. one month before adding the next bag. This allow the critters and beneficial bacteria time to colonize the sand bed. For each of the first two bags, I just moved the cc over to one side, making room for the sand. Now that this partial sand bed is establishing itself (already full of tiny worms), I'll remove enough cc to make room for the next bag of sand when I put it in in about two weeks. I'll repeat the process every month until the bed is completely changed.So far, no ammonia or nitrite spikes, no visible effect on the fish or corals. My brittle stars quickly moved over to the sand bed and won't go near the cc anymore.
Many people on this board have made the change from CC to DSB. Do a search. One moderator has step by step instruction on how to do it. Almost all recommend getting rid of the CC completely. Moving it as Steven is doing will allow migration from the CC to the sand. Others have put the CC in nylon stockings so after a period of time for migration, it can be thrown out. CC is to large for a DSB.
dvb":1dfx5bch said:
If you just want to grow critters, the CC, due to the larger sized particles, will let you grown copepods and things better than a DSB. But the CC will not help you with denitrifying. But, if you goal is to break down nutrients and help get your nitrates down, a DSB is the way to go. But you should remove the crushed coral, it is too big and sharp to house the creatures that need to live in a DSB and turn over the sand. Replace the CC with Southdown or something similar.
Check out these threads. They should help:
http://reefs.org/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=8234
http://reefs.org/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=2845[/url]
http://reefs.org/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=8234
http://reefs.org/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=2845[/url]
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