Yes. I have about 60% silica sand in my tank. I'd try to get some live sand at some point to add to the sandbed, when you have the time/opportunity. Aragonite is better, but not necessary.
Getting a Saltwater setup have some questions
- Thread starter Kiyana
- Start date
one minor point about the .c.c
You would never be able to get all the detritus out of the c.c. . the don't make aquarium vaccums that work that well. The only way to get it very clean at all would be to wash it out and that would defeat your purpose. Not to mention with the high o2 level the right sort of bacteria isn't living there anyway there is no way the c.c. is deep enough. Right now all it does is provide surface space for infaunal critters and o2 loving bacteria that mostly eat amonia and some of the nitrites maybe in the middle. The l.r. in this tank is probably doing most the nitrite removal and all of the nitrate removal. I'd just leave a few large cheese cloth bags of c.c. somewhere in the tank for a few weeks until your bacteria population recovers. You want your sand bed to stay as clean as possible or you'll just have to replace it sooner.
hth
Chris
You would never be able to get all the detritus out of the c.c. . the don't make aquarium vaccums that work that well. The only way to get it very clean at all would be to wash it out and that would defeat your purpose. Not to mention with the high o2 level the right sort of bacteria isn't living there anyway there is no way the c.c. is deep enough. Right now all it does is provide surface space for infaunal critters and o2 loving bacteria that mostly eat amonia and some of the nitrites maybe in the middle. The l.r. in this tank is probably doing most the nitrite removal and all of the nitrate removal. I'd just leave a few large cheese cloth bags of c.c. somewhere in the tank for a few weeks until your bacteria population recovers. You want your sand bed to stay as clean as possible or you'll just have to replace it sooner.
hth
Chris
maxilaria,
A trick with washing cc, filter media, etc. is to wash it in the discard water from a water change, IME. You can scrub it, etc. without using cleaners to get it clean enough without nuking the bacteria colonies. Fresh water is not needed for cleaning.
Kiyana,
It doesn't matter interms of settling whether they are on or off, but if you have fish in there, you want them on. Clean the pumps and powerheads part way through according to standard pump cleaning procedures. Good quality powerheads are not harmed by a sandstorm if you put the attachments on to keep very large particles out of the pump. For your fishes' sake, you want the pumps on. However if you add the sand and then put the water back in slowly, the sand storm won't be as bad. Don't try to move the tank part full of water or you may find yourself with a cracked tank, BTW.
A trick with washing cc, filter media, etc. is to wash it in the discard water from a water change, IME. You can scrub it, etc. without using cleaners to get it clean enough without nuking the bacteria colonies. Fresh water is not needed for cleaning.
Kiyana,
It doesn't matter interms of settling whether they are on or off, but if you have fish in there, you want them on. Clean the pumps and powerheads part way through according to standard pump cleaning procedures. Good quality powerheads are not harmed by a sandstorm if you put the attachments on to keep very large particles out of the pump. For your fishes' sake, you want the pumps on. However if you add the sand and then put the water back in slowly, the sand storm won't be as bad. Don't try to move the tank part full of water or you may find yourself with a cracked tank, BTW.
When i changed my 15gl from Crushed coral to a DSB, all i did was divide the bottom into 4 sections, and then scoop out one section every 1-2 weeks untile all the sand was in. Then i let it sit for another 2-3 weeks, and then took a small fishing net to scoop up the sand/cc mix and filterd out the coral from the sand (the crushed coral gets caught in the net and the sand filters through the holes in the net)
Never thought that you should use fresh water. I just don't think it's worth the time and bother to leave something in your tank that doesn't do any good and could cause problems down the road. The reason I said use cheese cloth bags are that they are easy to get out with out much of a mess or killing your critters with a new spike. Geals way would work just as well though.
feeding question
ok now what is a good food to feed these guys with..
I also have decided to keep the crushed coral base. i am moving the tank in form out of town.. about 30 mins. so i don't want to completely freak the fish out.. these seem to be okay with the cc... am planning on changing it a little at a time.. until it is all changed...
Also i can't find much info on the leather.. can anyone help on how to look after it.. this is what the tank looks like ( pic courteous of Gowyn Wilcox.)
who i bought the tank of off..
ok now what is a good food to feed these guys with..
I also have decided to keep the crushed coral base. i am moving the tank in form out of town.. about 30 mins. so i don't want to completely freak the fish out.. these seem to be okay with the cc... am planning on changing it a little at a time.. until it is all changed...
Also i can't find much info on the leather.. can anyone help on how to look after it.. this is what the tank looks like ( pic courteous of Gowyn Wilcox.)
who i bought the tank of off..
