Switching from CC to a Sand Bed?

from my experince with ugf in fresh water you are going to want to take the time to just remove them. becouse they will create a chemistry nightmare just seting down there. now i am very new to the salt water, and in my thanking since saltwater fish and reef are not as tolerant of bad water as fresh water fish and plants i think that it would destroy a salt tank. but perhaps some one with more experince with salt water can let you know better. :bowing:

as for removing fish, i would when i finaly removed the ones that i had pluged in my fresh water tank it trashed the water for a few days (more than just having them pluged did), becous it relesed all of the bacteria and other stuff into the water.

i ended up have 4 fish die and all of my plants when i just pluged the ugf.

Firehunter is correct. Leaving the fliter plate and media in your tank will cause you nitrate problems on down the road. If possible remove all the workings of the ugf and the c.c. that you have over it or you're pretty much just waisting your time.
The sand storm will probably last for a couple of days. If possible remove your critters to a temp home and turn off your power heads for a couple of days. If that's not something you can do try to redirect flow to the top of your tank. After everything has setteled out use a power head to remove debris from l.r. etc.
I'd also get a couple of new nylon stockings, some muslin etc and stuff it with c.c. ,"don't be skimpy". Leave that in your tanks for a month or so to give the bacteria enough time to get established in the sand bed. Then do a major cleaning you'll be really surprised how much crap is trapped in the c.c. Pick out some of the infaunal life so that you don't throw it all away. Depending on how long you've had the c.c. bottom you might also consider adding a little more live rock.,"or a cup of sand from a tank with an established sand bed." That will allow critters that couldn't make it in the c.c.
hth
Chris

I've been wanting to go from crushed coral to sand as well. A couple of questions about this though. would it be problematic to leave the fish in while this all happened? I don't have a second home for them yet. Also, is it easier to just get live sand instead of going through the seeding process?

Would I be good with something like this? http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=7318&N=2004+113553 If so, what grade should I consider?

I wouldn't try replacing the substrate without pulling everything out of the tank first. A) adding sand through water increases the odds of getting a milkshake effect. B) you may end up burying live stock--depending on what you have, many animals burrow into the substrate when alarmed. C) Live rock instablility will be avery real possibility.

Here's how I swapped out CC in 2 tanks.

Get 2 larges tub--big enough to hold all the rock comfortably, about 1/4 of the water in one, another 1/4 of the water and the fish in the second. Home Depot, WalMart, Lowes, Target--all have heavy duty rubbermaid tubs for less than $10 that will work just fine for temporary use.

Drain water into both tubs--less in the one for the rock. Remove everything, then topoff the rock tank so everything stays covered. Put a towel or sheet over the tub with the fish to prevent jumpers.

Remove all the crushed coral (a clean dust pan works very well). Sort through as you pull it out for snails and worms. Keep the top layer of CC--put it in nylon bags to help seed the new sand bed.

Add the sand, and any base rock. Put a large plate on the sand, and start pouring new water into the tank. The plate will prevent the sand from being too stirred up. Get enough water in to turn on the heater--about half. Start adding the live rock back in, top off. Bring up to temp. Return livestock to the tank. Stash the nylon bags in the tank for a few weeks, removing incrementally as the sand bed develops.

Thanks very much for the advice. I did exactly as you said, and everything seems to be doing well. Water's a little cloudy, but that's to be expected.

It's kind of sad and amusing at the same time, my horseshoe crab keeps trying to burrow, but there's air in the sand and his shell keeps filling up with air and flipping him over. I'm sure he'll find a place to burrow soon enough.

Thanks again!