adding new sand

[duke62]

i bought the southdown sand from MAK today to replace lost sand from my cyano issue.i sucked up 1/2 of my sand bed getting it out everyday.i know a handful a day or 2 so i dont get a cycle from the live sand.but what about this sand.do i do the samething or can i put alot more in at a time since it most likely wont have anything to die off.i know to rinse it out.

 

[NL146]

Just curious, what did you use to siphon out the sand?

 

[duke62]

1/8 tubing

 

[MIKE NY]

I would rinse it real well in r/o water and only add about a 1/2" at a time and gently stir it in ...doing this over a few weeks to get up the to depth you want......it will allow the new sand to be seeded from the old...

 

[duke62]

1/2 an inch a week

 

[KathyC]

40 breeder - right?
I wouldn't add a half inch at a time over the entire sand bed, you are taking a chance that it will cycle to the point of a noticable cycle in the tank..go slowly James..maybe half of the sandbed at a time

 

[duke62]

well thats what i was wondering.tjere shouldnt be anything in the sand that would cause a cycle.you think in that sand MAK had there will be any dead organisms

 

[KathyC]

well thats what i was wondering.tjere shouldnt be anything in the sand that would cause a cycle.you think in that sand MAK had there will be any dead organisms

There doesn't need to be dead organisms in the sand for it to have to cycle. The point is there is nothing alive in it - so it will 'cycle'..same as a newly set up tank.
Just don't go crazy adding too much of it at once..and do rinse it in RO water first.

 

[duke62]

yes maam...thanks KAT

 

[JARRETT SHARK]

did you beat the cyano issue? if not I would wait b/c you might be doing it again in a week or two if it comes back

 

[duke62]

cyano is gone now...hi my name is james and i had cyanno..been off of it for a month

 

[JARRETT SHARK]

good news

 

[SevTT]

There doesn't need to be dead organisms in the sand for it to have to cycle. The point is there is nothing alive in it - so it will 'cycle'..same as a newly set up tank.
Just don't go crazy adding too much of it at once..and do rinse it in RO water first.

Errr, not really. A new tank cycles because it has insufficient infauna to convert wastes and dissolved nutrients to nitrate and ultimately nitrogen gas. In this case, you have exactly the same amount of biological filtration capacity as you did before you added the sand, but because you added the sand, it'll grow. (Well, so long as the sand has been washed and isn't carrying nitrates or phosphates or chunks of dead things or anything like that.)

Of course, because the sand is uninhabited, it will experience several successions of organisms, the most obvious of which would probably be diatoms on its surface, but if you've already got an active sandbed it should quickly become colonized. You could just shove most of your sand bed over a bit and then lay the new sand in the vacated area. If you just lay it on top of the sand, then, yeah, do like 1/2"/week so that you don't bury and kill sand fauna, which would indeed cause a cycle.

 

[cali_reef]

I think the tank will see increase in nutrients whenever you "stir" an established sand bed.

This is what I would do in a 40B - rinsed a quart container of new sand out well with used tank water during water changes, than keep the container submerged in your sump until the next water change. Dump the new (somewhat established) sand in your display, immediately do a water change and repeat the process until your sandbed depth is achieved.

 

[LongIslandAndy]

I think the tank will see increase in nutrients whenever you "stir" an established sand bed.

This is what I would do in a 40B - rinsed a quart container of new sand out well with used tank water during water changes, than keep the container submerged in your sump until the next water change. Dump the new (somewhat established) sand in your display, immediately do a water change and repeat the process until your sandbed depth is achieved.

+ 1 The last thing i would do is stir that sandbed, this ain't freshwater !!!

 

[MIKE NY]

I've done it that way a few times, but the phos and trates did go up alittle without any real problems and went back down in a few days...by gently stiring it in it allowed the new sand to colonize faster....but I have alot more water volumn than him...so I agree with you guys in a smaller tank it may not be wise...I didn't know the size of his tank.