is it safe to add live sand to an aquarium that already has fish in it? i want to do that to help with the biological filter. i dont have the space for a refugium so i want to do as much to my main tank as possible to help with that. I wish i had space for one cause i think they are cool with all the differetn stuff in them.
live sand?
- Thread starter bchbm2022
- Start date
Hmm, good question. I really don't know the answer to that.
I have to ask though, how long has your tank been setup, what kind of sand do you currently have, and how much live rock do you have? If it has been setup for a while and you have live rock, chances are your sand IS live now.
I have to ask though, how long has your tank been setup, what kind of sand do you currently have, and how much live rock do you have? If it has been setup for a while and you have live rock, chances are your sand IS live now.
Uh Oh.. "crushed coral" is a bad word now a days. Probably the only suggestions your going to hear is remove all the crushed coral and change it out for sand. Crushed coral caused all kinds of problems in a salt water tank.
This was posted by member Max, 9/2006.
This was posted by member Max, 9/2006.
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I don't know about that myself. You would think that sounds like a good idea, but somehow I doubt it will work as well as we think in our heads that it should. I know you can add a little crushed coral to sand, like 1 part crushed coral to 10 parts sand. I don't think throwing a little sand on top of the crushed coral is really going to help out though.
How big is your tank? Just wondering why it is so hard to replace. Use a cooler and fill that with sw, place all your rocks and other things in the cooler for a while. I used a plastic blade thingy for spackling drywall.. new of course, to use as a scooper with a water pitcher to get all my crushed coral out of my tank when I changed it out. You don't have to take out every last little piece, just the majority.
How big is your tank? Just wondering why it is so hard to replace. Use a cooler and fill that with sw, place all your rocks and other things in the cooler for a while. I used a plastic blade thingy for spackling drywall.. new of course, to use as a scooper with a water pitcher to get all my crushed coral out of my tank when I changed it out. You don't have to take out every last little piece, just the majority.
my tank is 36 gallons. id say the main reason why it would be hard is because my fish are a pain to try to catch. i had one really aggressive fish that i wanted to isolate for a while and it took a very very long time to catch and i had to take apart my whole aquascape to do it. but then, i have to take it apart anyway in order to get the crushed coral out. plus, i cant really afford to buy a bunch of new sand at the moment.
Well, you can use your hands and pull out as much as you can that way without tearing the tank completely apart. If I were you, I would just wait a little while and see who else posts here with their opinions. I am sure others on here have suggestions that I am not thinking of.
well once i have the cash to buy new sand then ill replace the crushed coral. I really wish i had found this site b4 i started because the guy at my lfs i guess just wants to make money and not offer good advice. He said a power filter would be good for a fowlr tank, crushed coral is fine, and regular florescent lighting is good. Not so. lol over the past few months ive been slowly upgrading everything everytime i got some spare cash. I upgraded my filter to a filstar xp1(i might add another small power filter with a lot of bio filtration media like an aqua clear and load it up w. their bio filtration stuff), i got a prism protein skimmer, upgraded my lighting to dual satellite compact florescent lighting plus some lunar lights. so since ive done all that i might as well replace the crushed coral. If im gonna invest a lot of time and money then im gonna do it right. i did so much reading but i wish i found this site 1st. everyone has so much better info than any book i bought has or than my lfs owner has i just gotta get some cash and finish up w/ my ich problem before i put more stress on my fish.