Easier way to change out crushed coral for dsb?

O.G. is right using the eggcrate hidden in the sand works well. I Cut the stuff a little smaller than the rock I want to support and then just pushing it into the sand bed. I just set the rocks on top of that and thats all. You can't see the eggcrate and the rock won't sink into the sand
 
I think I really like the eggcrate-in-the-sand idea. Is eggcrate something you would pick up at Home Depot? I don't think I've ever noticed it being sold anywhere.
 
Yes, Home Depot carries it, look in the lighting section. If you ask for eggcrate, they should know what it is. It's a plastic grid, about .5 inch openings, comes in white, and silver--just get the white, as the silver coating can flake off and make a mess.
 
Well, that was one BIG job, but I got it all done over the weekend and everyone seems to be doing fine. Thanks very much again for all the great advice.

PH is a little low (around 8.0) which is odd (I think) because my alk is still at around 10 dKH. I'll keep an eye on it and add some buffer today if it's still low.

Do you have any suggestions for how long I should leave the nylon bags with the old c.c. in the tank? Not sure how long it takes to seed the new sand bed.
 
Well,

I'm convinced! I wanted to do this for a long time but didn't have the confidence. I now feel better about it and will give it a shot!

I'll let you guys know how it goes and thanks for all the info and support.
 
I was putting it off for months myself, but it wasn't as disastrous as I thought it would be. It did take me over 12 hours to get it all done, but that was mostly because I screwed up by putting the egg crate base in after I had filled the tank 3/4 with water. I ended up kicking up a lot of dust that turned the water pretty much the color of milk for quite a while. Kind of tough to carefully place 140 lbs of rock with various critters attached when you only have one inch of visibility in the tank.

OrionGirl's suggestion of using a plate on top of the sand when you're filling the tank back up with water worked like a charm. My mistake was that I didn't put the eggcrate in before filling it back up with water. (But of course I think I have a sub-conscious need to screw something up when doing projects like this.) Looking through some of your past posts, it looks like you have less rock, which will make it a lot easier for you. Arranging all the rock was by far the worst part of it for me.

Also, I've got a battery powered air pump (in case of power outages) that I used in the storage tub I was holding the fish in. I think that helped them not croak while they were patiently waiting in the tub for me to get my act together.
 
Yea, I definetly have much less rock but plan on doubling my arsenal as soon as this is done.

Question: I do not plan on doing the egg crate thing. Is this something you highly recommend?
 
It worked for me, but I don't think I would necessarily recommend it over any of the other suggestions that OrionGirl made earlier in this thread. I think the big thing is to make sure the rock is very stable and won't collapse if the sand under it gets moved around.
 
I was told by my lfs that the only kind of bed i wanted was puka shell sand, it has the consistency of small gravel. I originally wanted a sand bottom, maybe even black sand. They said it would not work with sand, and I was confused because I have seen many tanks with sandy bottoms! But I went with the Puka shell sand. Reading this has helped me know how to change it out if I decide to do that but I was wondering, can I just take out some of the puka and add fine sand on top? I realize that it will eventually get mixed up by the crab( see below) and by siphoning. Do you think this is a bad thing to do, do you think it will look bad, And is it in the best interest of my tank? I have no Plans to have a reef tank because they do not sell coral in my state. And most of what people say on here is related to reef systems. I would like the biological filtration as good as possible, and from what i have read that works better with more surface area ie. smaller substrate. So can I mix it in?
Also, on another subject...

I have a 125g fowlr tank that I cycled and left it for 3 months with my "started fish" (4 chromis and one yellow tail damsel are all that survived the cycle) I added the live rock 2 weeks ago. I think that the live rock had anemones on it, that is what they look like but the size of 1/2 a pea and smaller. Then 3 days ago at the lfs I fell in love with this really cool Anemone hermit crab... about 2 inches across including the anemones stuck to his shell, of witch there are 2 quarter sized, 2 dimes sized, and several other tiny ones all clumped about on his shell. Now i am not sure but I think this Crab has started eating all the anemones... if that is what they were, off of the live rock because I have seen him go over by one and then when he leaves it is gone. He has eaten all but maybe 3 that I can see and he can't reach those ones. I was reading elsewhere in this forum that anemones are not good to have in young/ newly set up tanks and will die! So will the ones on the crab die? Should I take him back or can he survive even if they do die... Not that I want that to happen cause he looks so cool with them. I will do anything to keep this guy if I can but I don't want to kill him. Any help would be so great.

And one last thing...
All of my starter fish have what looks to me like scales missing from there heads around the eye area. It is worse on some than on others. They do not show signs of ich... ie white spots on the fish. My LFS has no idea what it could be, although I bought all the fish from that store at the same time. They had it prior to the live rock addition so I don't think that is a factor. Do you have any idea what it could be? Or how to treat it? I am hesitant to spend money on more exspensive fish with out trying to fix this first. The fish are still eating and behaving mostly normal. The only thing they show some signs of stress like breathing heavy, but they are still eating and have lived about 2 months with the missing scales and are not dead... bnut it is not getting any better either. Any Ideas?

Additional info
I have 2 Magnum 350 canister filters. 1 with Charcol and one with the other filter in.
Also 1 seaclone 150 protien skimmer
and extra makijet pump for circulation.


Thank you in advance for any help anyone has with these problems, sorry so long winded but I wanted to explain my situation fully!
TanisHeily
email: Montminyt001@hawaii.rr.com
 
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