i would like to change my substrate i have crushed coral right now and would like to change it to the Black Tahitian Moon sand. would it cause any problems. any input would be greatly be appreciated?
changes
- Thread starter Hummer_Mechanic
- Start date
How old is your set up and how much of the cc are you planning on removing? In any case I would think you are going to stir up a mountain of sediment so if you plan on leaving the occupants in the tank I would have 2 or 3 powerheads running with external filters attached to the intakes and go very slow. I once performed this operation and found a plastic kiddie shovel quite helpfull filling a small plastic container resting on the bottom of the tank then hauling out the container. If you have a reef and it rests on the cc I would think you are going to have to break it down completely and shovel it all out. Best case senerio you have space in the tank to move everything to one side, shovel, repeat, and shovel again. The fish should be fine. You might want to consider bagging the coral for safety sake. If you don't have the space a clean, plastic garbage can (lined with a plastic bag) will come into play. You could siphon off tank water into the can until the top of the rock is almost exposed. Remove the rock to the can and repeat until you have room to work. Do your thing the reverse the process. A water change might be in order after you have everything back in the tank. Go easy though as all you occupants are going to be stressed. Further, now that you have pulled all of your substrate and replaced it with new the bioload is going to go high due to the bacteria you lost with the removal of the cc. Watch your water chemistry. Good luck. Been there - done that! It can be done without crashing.