katarian Posted March 14, 2018 Share Posted March 14, 2018 Hi there everyone, I have been wanting to move to sand bed, from the gravel bed I have right now. I am not really enjoying the gravel bed, and really love the sand beds when I see other people's tanks. So my question is, is it possible to make the switch? Is it going to negatively affect the cycle? I have had the tank running for almost 2 years now. I have about an inch of the gravel bed right now. I have a 40B tank with plenty of rocks. How do you suggest I go about doing the change? Should I leave some of the gravel and put sand on top of it? Should I completely get rid of it? And, what sand to go with? I really enjoy looking at the finer ones, but I don't want something so fine that it will cloud the tank with the flow, fish, etc. I like the white sand a lot, but I have been checking out the Fiji Pink sand. Is that white enough, and heavy enough to not blow around easy? Any suggestion will be helpful, thank you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
katarian Posted March 14, 2018 Author Share Posted March 14, 2018 And, if you guys want to post the picture of your tanks, that will be great too! I would love to see the sand bed you guys have in your tanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Exodus Posted March 14, 2018 Share Posted March 14, 2018 Gravel being different then sand has a bit more surface area for beneficial bacteria to populate, though if you have allot of other surface area in the tank including, Live Rock, Bio Media , Sponges etc I think you would be fine removing it all, just hold off for a few weeks before doing anything that would increase the bioload. The best way to remove it would be to leave all the water in the tank, turn off the flow, get a plastic strainer and begin scooping all the gravel into the strainer when filled dump in bucket and repeat till all is gone. With all gravel gone let it sit for about 10 minutes for all crap to settle (This is why you need to leave the water) Grab your gravel vacuum and extract all the crap on the bottom of the tank into the bucket (be prepared to have enough water mixed and ready to go to replace what you take out) This would also be a good time to add sand if you wanted to, though bare bottom helps tremendously with nutrient control. Though if you add sand just be sure you rinse it good before adding, if you are using live sand with the chemical that clears up the dust and have a filter sock, besure you switch the filter sock within 2 days or it will begin overflowing and shut off your skimmer. Good luck! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrk13p Posted March 14, 2018 Share Posted March 14, 2018 Siphon out your gravel little by little with your water changes. You’ll eventually get it all after a few changes. Then just add sand after. I like the Fiji pink just don’t go oolite if flows gonna be higher. Looks nicest but blows all over the place. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
katarian Posted March 15, 2018 Author Share Posted March 15, 2018 Gravel being different then sand has a bit more surface area for beneficial bacteria to populate, though if you have allot of other surface area in the tank including, Live Rock, Bio Media , Sponges etc I think you would be fine removing it all, just hold off for a few weeks before doing anything that would increase the bioload. The best way to remove it would be to leave all the water in the tank, turn off the flow, get a plastic strainer and begin scooping all the gravel into the strainer when filled dump in bucket and repeat till all is gone. With all gravel gone let it sit for about 10 minutes for all crap to settle (This is why you need to leave the water) Grab your gravel vacuum and extract all the crap on the bottom of the tank into the bucket (be prepared to have enough water mixed and ready to go to replace what you take out) This would also be a good time to add sand if you wanted to, though bare bottom helps tremendously with nutrient control. Though if you add sand just be sure you rinse it good before adding, if you are using live sand with the chemical that clears up the dust and have a filter sock, besure you switch the filter sock within 2 days or it will begin overflowing and shut off your skimmer. Good luck!Sweet, thank you!And yes, I do have a bunch of live rock, with lots of sponges in the shaded areas, and a big piece of live rock in my refugium. What sand do you recommend? Sent from my SM-N915V using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
katarian Posted March 15, 2018 Author Share Posted March 15, 2018 Siphon out your gravel little by little with your water changes. You’ll eventually get it all after a few changes. Then just add sand after. I like the Fiji pink just don’t go oolite if flows gonna be higher. Looks nicest but blows all over the place.How high of a flow are we talking about? Sent from my SM-N915V using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrk13p Posted March 15, 2018 Share Posted March 15, 2018 2 hours ago, katarian said: How high of a flow are we talking about? Sent from my SM-N915V using Tapatalk SPS type of flow. If LPS and softies maybe ok 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
katarian Posted March 15, 2018 Author Share Posted March 15, 2018 SPS type of flow. If LPS and softies maybe okI do have some sps, but they are all on the top of the rocks, pretty far up from the bed. So if I have the circulation pump (which I only have one of) not shooting directly onto the sandbed, will that work? Sent from my SM-N915V using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dlinehan113 Posted March 23, 2018 Share Posted March 23, 2018 fiji pink is light and blows like crazy... you'll notice spots quickly that are to much flow directly on the sand. you can always put a rock on top of that spot as well to divert the flow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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