kimmeewoo
01/20/2012, 11:31 AM
I'm getting back into the hobby after being out for 7-8 years. Seems like a few things have changed since I had my 180g reef. Dosing with vodka?? WHAT??
Anyway, back to my question. I recently purchased an already-running Red Sea Max 250. Relevant details:
It's about 1/4 full of live rock (by volume)
The existing sand is quite coarse...about 2-4mm grain size.
It has a few small corals
No fish
It had an ich outbreak 2-3 months ago.
I will let the tank lie fallow for 9-10 weeks to kill off any remaining ich.
I'm wondering what to do about the substrate. Are deep sand beds still the way to go, or have these fallen out of common use? Should I completely switch out the coarse substrate for oolitic sand? Or can I just add oolitic sand to it? I'm hesitant to start off with a brand new sand bed in a tank with corals. I don't want to kill them off, so as much as possible, I want to avoid starting a cycle. But at the same time, I want what's best for the long-term health of the tank. Any advice?
Thanks for your help. It's good to be back!
Anyway, back to my question. I recently purchased an already-running Red Sea Max 250. Relevant details:
It's about 1/4 full of live rock (by volume)
The existing sand is quite coarse...about 2-4mm grain size.
It has a few small corals
No fish
It had an ich outbreak 2-3 months ago.
I will let the tank lie fallow for 9-10 weeks to kill off any remaining ich.
I'm wondering what to do about the substrate. Are deep sand beds still the way to go, or have these fallen out of common use? Should I completely switch out the coarse substrate for oolitic sand? Or can I just add oolitic sand to it? I'm hesitant to start off with a brand new sand bed in a tank with corals. I don't want to kill them off, so as much as possible, I want to avoid starting a cycle. But at the same time, I want what's best for the long-term health of the tank. Any advice?
Thanks for your help. It's good to be back!