+ACampbell Posted October 30, 2006 Share Posted October 30, 2006 How often should sand beds be replaced, and why? What are some helpful tips to be considered during the procedure? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thedude Posted October 30, 2006 Share Posted October 30, 2006 I replace sandbeds on client tanks when I see a problem. As a for instance we'll go in to the one I'll be replacing this week. Dentists' office and he has had the reef tank setup for nearly 6 years. He is an extremely helpful client and knows EVERYTHING about his tank, just has not had the time to take care of it properly. When we came in, he had kept SPS, LPS, and everything in between but the tank currently had a 4 inch sandbed, mushrooms, and a mantis shrimp. When cleaning the tank, I noticed how dirty the sand looked. This is not only aesthetically unpleasing but I was curious at what lurked below. I basically took out a "core sample" by putting a cup down into the sand and pulling it out. The stuff smelled TERRIBLE. I might add that doing this in a large quantity would be enough to crash your tank. Moral of the story is that after 6 years, the sandbed had not been treated like the live animal it is. Another extremely successful reefer, Steve Weast, changes his sand out every 8-12 months. Hope that helps, John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dhayden Posted October 31, 2006 Share Posted October 31, 2006 Well I guess the next question would be... What is the proper way to "take care" of a sand bed? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
judefish Posted October 31, 2006 Share Posted October 31, 2006 John, One of the MARSH meeting they did a sand bed exchange. You bring a cup, it gets mixed up and you take a cup home. Do not know how often they do this. Any thoughts. judith Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thedude Posted October 31, 2006 Share Posted October 31, 2006 OK so two questions; First the sand bed exchange. Great idea, I would never, ever do it. With all the strange pests going around, I would never risk bringing in someone else's sand and infecting my tank. No offense to anyone, but we really have no 100%, for sure safety from pests and I personally, would rather be safe than sorry. That being said, the sand could always be put into a community "tank" and watching for several weeks like a QT. That's the only way I think a sand bed exchange would work. Question 2, how do you take care of a sand bed... You should be looking at both your live rock and live sand as animals in your tank. These animals need flow to expel waste and eat, they need light for some beneficial organisms to grow on them, and they often need food. In the case of our sand beds, they have tiny plankton consuming organisms such as copepods, amphipods, etc. This isn't usually where sand bed maintenance becomes a problem but remember that all those tiny bugs and worms are continually turning the sand over (keeping waste at the top). The second way to help your sand is on more of a macro scale. If your tank has high phosphate and nutrients, guess where all of that is going to settle. Strong flow will keep these nutrients suspended for long enough that they can be taken out via filter feeders, protein skimming, or mechanical filtration. The other step is to employ plenty of creatures to keep the sand clean. I recommend 1 fighting conch for every 100 gallons or so, Pacific nassarius snails (LARGE variety), and detrivore starfish. My favorite stars are the black or red brittle stars. They stay fairly small and are a true detrivore unlike their carnivore green cousin. Sorry for my book of a post, John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
loans_n_fishes Posted November 8, 2006 Share Posted November 8, 2006 Can play sand from HD be used as substrate? I was trying to see if it had silicates or not...it didn't say. Is there a particular type of sand from the home improvement stores that can be used successfully? (I am setting up a seahorse tank soon) On my 75 gallon reef tank, I apparently have crushed coral. I thought at the time it was the same as "special grade" reef sand (which is what I was aiming for). It is probably 4-5" deep (set on a plenum) and has been in the tank for a little over a year. Is it important that I change to something with smaller particles? I am afraid of crashing my tank if I start moving it around much. My nitrates are typically high in this tank, and lately I have quite a bit of cyno. Could my sand bed be contributing? Would it be best to just leave everything alone? I was hoping the plenum system would keep the nitrates in check, but the particles may be too big to do the job correctly. I have nass. vibex snails, some bluelegs, cerith snails, a couple of nerite snails, and a lawn mower blenny. Can I just add another cleanup critter to keep it cleaner (without removing pods--I have a mandarin)? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caferacermike Posted November 8, 2006 Share Posted November 8, 2006 Play sand is no good. I don't know enough about plenums to even touch that question. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thedude Posted November 8, 2006 Share Posted November 8, 2006 I can't comment on plenums either as I have no experience. Something I've read about, but never wanted to do. As for sand, a few people on here were talking about using crushed limestone from Home Depot. The only true reef sand you can buy outside of a fish store is southdown which home depot only carries on the east coast. I hate rinsing sand enough that I personally spring for the live sand bags everytime. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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