How to convert crushed coral to live sand?

[VahanM]

I have a 50 gallon tank with crushed coral and I want to change it to live sand.

I have rocks, fish, and inverts in there. How can I go about making this transition a smooth one?

[BurntOutReefer]

VERY slowly.......change a little at a time otherwise you'll get a nitrate spike....try to disturb as little of your substarte as you can.

[traderdan]

Maybe you can take fill up a 40 gallon container, like a new garbage can, with your exsiting water. Then change out substrate and remove what water is left. Return the 40 gallons and do 10 gallon water change. If you did this I don't see how your nitrates would go up. Just a thought.

[SquidHC]

Wait, you have crushed coral substrate and you want to make it "live"? Or you want to replace the crushed coral with a totally new type of substrate?

[BurntOutReefer]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11008748#post11008748 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by traderdan
Maybe you can take fill up a 40 gallon container, like a new garbage can, with your exsiting water. Then change out substrate and remove what water is left. Return the 40 gallons and do 10 gallon water change. If you did this I don't see how your nitrates would go up. Just a thought.

Just by disturbing that much substarte will release all kinds of garbage thats currently trapped in that substrate.......better to do it in small portions at a time over a week or so.....

[rustybucket145]

How deep is the CC? In shallow cases 1"-2" you can just dump the sand on top of it and stir it in.

[bertoni]

I wouldn't mix the substrates. Over time, the crushed coral will rise to the top and kill the live sand.

When I switched substrates, I disassembled the tank. That's fairly safe, although a lot of work.

[jjmcat]

I agree with Bertoni.All its takes is a little distubance in the force and it will all go down hill.

[VahanM]

I have about 1-2" of CC and I want to completely remove it and put in live sand instead. The CC is a nitrate factory.