going to change from cc to sand

[FishAddict87]

my tank has been up for over a year and a half and im going to change from cc to sand bottom but i had a few questions. Will it cause another cycle in my tank? whats the best and easiest way to do it? and any recommendations on the type of sand? live sand? dry sand? if i dont get all the cc out is that going to cause a problem?

[faisal629]

dry aragonite, petsmart has 30 lbs bag for $20, cant beat that deal, eventually it will turn alive.

[faisal629]

to put it in just cut a small hole on the corner and submerge the bag ans slowely let the sand come out...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kxd4ZISTuIM

i'd suggest keeping the bag close to the bottom as possible

[bnumair]

between taking the old sand out and dumping new in u will stirr up nasty stuff and ur tank may go through a mini cycle.

[bamf25]

I used medium aragonit and am fairly happy with it.

[Saltydrip]

I did the same swap. I used the white aquarium sand from petsmart. It really brightened up my tank. I scooped out all the CC with a kitty liter scoop. It worked really well untill I got a big scoop and it broke. Then I scooped the sand out of the bag with a 8oz plastic cup and slowly dumped the sand in place. Directly in placce, not just dumping it in. I immediately did a 50% water change because it stured up all kinds of nasty junk!

[nicholasdances]

This sounds like a pain, keep checking your tanks levels. Moving around the substrate could cause some spikes.

[syrinx]

cycle if any will likey be small. you likely will have a diatom bloom though. If you are changing the CC because you like the look of sand, thats fine, but CC is not a problem, many beautiful tanks use it and h ave for years.

[unkel j]

I just did this too. I switched from cc to reef flakes. I really like reef flakes, it looks nice and barely needs any rinsing. I did 25% at a time. I would vacume the area VERY well before scooping out that section to avoid most of the crud from going into the water colum. I changed 25% then waited 3 weeks, then at least 2 weeks inbetween each change after that. I did not see any cycle. If there was a cycle it too small to show up on my test kits. I am so glad I did it, it looks waaaaay better!
HTH

[FishAddict87]

I know this thread was made about a month ago but I wanted to know if it would be ok if I did this... moved all my rock to one side of the tank and scooped out the CC out of the rockless side but not do a water change and then the next day after everything settles, move the rocks to the other side and take out the rest of the CC and then do a water change and add the sand. will this be bad for the fish in my tank currently? should I wait longer to do the other half? I need to do it either all at once or not at all because I have a fish guy who suggested I do it this way so he can come and add the sand and do a water change in one day. any feedback is appreciated thanks

[FishAddict87]

btw I am about to do this tomorrow so advice soon would be better lol

[SweetTang]

I just did this too. I switched from cc to reef flakes. I really like reef flakes, it looks nice and barely needs any rinsing. I did 25% at a time. I would vacume the area VERY well before scooping out that section to avoid most of the crud from going into the water colum. I changed 25% then waited 3 weeks, then at least 2 weeks inbetween each change after that. I did not see any cycle. If there was a cycle it too small to show up on my test kits. I am so glad I did it, it looks waaaaay better!
HTH

+1 on this one. This is basically what I did and I did not see any cycle what so ever. Highly reccomend doing it in phases, that way you don't get rid of all your good bacteria at once. Phases also let your remaining cc seed your new dry sand as you phase it out.

[FishAddict87]

So I spent about 6 hours today switching my tank from CC to sand and it was an experience lol. All my fish seem happy, my HOB filter doesnt because its making a weird sound now but the tank looks really good..still a bit cloudy. heres a before and after pic and let me know what you think. the aquascaping is ehhhh right now because it was cloudy when i did it.

Before:
<a href="http://s1181.photobucket.com/albums/x431/rajppatel87/?action=view&amp;current=photo2-1.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1181.photobucket.com/albums/x431/rajppatel87/th_photo2-1.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket" ></a>

After:
<a href="http://s1181.photobucket.com/albums/x431/rajppatel87/?action=view&amp;current=photo-1.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1181.photobucket.com/albums/x431/rajppatel87/th_photo-1.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket" ></a>

Right:
<a href="http://s1181.photobucket.com/albums/x431/rajppatel87/?action=view&amp;current=photo1.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1181.photobucket.com/albums/x431/rajppatel87/th_photo1.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket" ></a>

Left:
<a href="http://s1181.photobucket.com/albums/x431/rajppatel87/?action=view&amp;current=photo2.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1181.photobucket.com/albums/x431/rajppatel87/th_photo2.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket" ></a>