Sk8r
02/28/2007, 11:09 PM
I'm moving in a couple of weeks. Re how to move, I presented the option of washing the sand in salt water, etc., but the advice from my lfs [master reefer] is that at this point I can actually have a shorter cycle [with my really ancient rock] by totally replacing the sand. I hate the sand I have: it's got puka shell in it, and it gets to the surface and turns red from algae and collects crap.
So I'm going to get very fine aragonite sand and totally clean out the tank during the move, wash the new aragonite in ro/di, and have myself a new sand base. Eggcrate first, then the rock, then the sand, with maybe a cupful of the finer old sand saved just for the bacteria. My lfs says with the old sand being overturned and rinsed I could expect a cycle of maybe 10 days max, but with brand new sand and a fresh start, maybe 3-5 days. And he'll babysit my fish and corals until the cycle's done.
Sounds like a good deal to me: I've wanted rid of this sand so badly from the first month I had the tank up and all the puka shell floated to the surface.
So anybody out there who's got this situation, you might consider it. I'll post and let everybody know how fast I get through the situation. A couple of weeks yet before The Move, but this should be interesting when I do it. I'm going to sift out most of my stray worms and the two conchs and the several nassarius for rescue, and the rest goes.
So I'm going to get very fine aragonite sand and totally clean out the tank during the move, wash the new aragonite in ro/di, and have myself a new sand base. Eggcrate first, then the rock, then the sand, with maybe a cupful of the finer old sand saved just for the bacteria. My lfs says with the old sand being overturned and rinsed I could expect a cycle of maybe 10 days max, but with brand new sand and a fresh start, maybe 3-5 days. And he'll babysit my fish and corals until the cycle's done.
Sounds like a good deal to me: I've wanted rid of this sand so badly from the first month I had the tank up and all the puka shell floated to the surface.
So anybody out there who's got this situation, you might consider it. I'll post and let everybody know how fast I get through the situation. A couple of weeks yet before The Move, but this should be interesting when I do it. I'm going to sift out most of my stray worms and the two conchs and the several nassarius for rescue, and the rest goes.