replace crush coral

[opticjim]

these are the worms on the bowl rock
amazing to me
this is maybe a 5% sample
I have tons more
any resale value
anyone know what these are
good or bad for tank?
Jim

 

[mr_X]

they are good for your tank. they eat detritus on the rock and in the substrate. that many means you have/had alot of waste in your tank!
consider them a free cleanup crew. :wink:

 

[Ben1]

My favorite sized grain of sand sold by caribsea is their sp. seafloor grade sand. I usually would use 75% of that and 25% oolite fine sand.

Different sandbeds require different maintance also, if I was using CC I would vacuum it, but with a fine sand ed you dont want to mix it that much so i would only stir a small section at each water change and never the whole thing.

You may also benifit from a blasting of your rocks with a power head or turkey baster to get any detritus that has compacted in them out. if you do this do it before a water change.

 

[mr_X]

Ben...are you a member of DVRC under another name?

 

[opticjim]

I took out all the coral and a bowl rock infested with bristel worms over 5 water changes of 30 gallons
I replace with 5 bags 100lbs of live sand
nitates are down to about 40 and tank cleared 1 hour after sand was placed on bottom and then cut bag open
All fish survived and are looking great

now I am working on the possible bio balls replaement and trying to get enought understandiing to add a refugium

I appreciate the replys i have gotten so far they have been a big help
I posted a picture of the worm but not sure where it went

 

[Ben1]

Ben...are you a member of DVRC under another name?

No I dont do any reef clubs anymore, being a single dad, scuba diver, reef keeper, small business owner, and WoW addict I have my hands full

 

[Anonymous]

I took out all the coral and a bowl rock infested with bristel worms over 5 water changes of 30 gallons
I replace with 5 bags 100lbs of live sand
nitates are down to about 40 and tank cleared 1 hour after sand was placed on bottom and then cut bag open
All fish survived and are looking great

now I am working on the possible bio balls replaement and trying to get enought understandiing to add a refugium

I appreciate the replys i have gotten so far they have been a big help
I posted a picture of the worm but not sure where it went

The picture is there. Your nitrate level is still pretty high, I strongly encourage you to do more water changes (and just for sheets and giggles, test the change water BEFORE you do the water change, ok?), big ones at that. Since this depth sand bed isn't going to really provide filtration, get an extra-long gravel vacuum tube (otherwise you'll remove all that sand you just put in) and be sure to vacuum that sand well, 1/3 of the total with each water change. Those bristle worms are a sign that you've got a lot of detritus built up, and it shows with that high nitrate level.

Honestly, how about just adding more live rock instead of going to the whole trouble of creating a refugium? I mean, your system has been doing fine for years, right? Don't make too many changes, or big changes, all at once. Removing the bioballs is fine, just remember to give it time in between removals, just like before.