Need help with sand bed

[bomber]

Hi guys..I had a tank for around 2months and all the corals and fishes are all doing well now but when I 1st start cycling the tank I go bare bottom but now I feel like adding sand bed to my tank...so would there be any problems if I add a thin layer of sand to the bottom? Thanks guys

[Martian]

Did you cycle with LR?

[bomber]

Yes I have lots of LR when I cycle my tank

[Martian]

You should be ok adding sand or more rock.

[kenyee]

Can find video of how to add sand into a running aquarium..I rem is using a long tube n slowly add..this way the water won't get too cloudy..u can consider rescaping too..happy reefing..

[bomber]

cause i intend to add dead sand to my sand bed but afraid something might happen to my tank....

[Martian]

IMO I don't think you'll have problem b'coz your LR will have the bacteria already.

[dingmac]

If I were to do the same, I'll do it during water change, wash the dead sand with aquarium water, add the dead sand and do water change...

[bomber]

Good idea... I should do that when I change do water change...thanks for the advice guys

[dingmac]

Bro, just my 2 cents... If you do water change let say a bucket of Saltwater. > Take half a bucket of aquarium water and use this to wash the dead sand. > Then add the dead sand to the aquarium ( by this time your water will become cloudy due to the sandbed disturbance) > Take another half a bucket of aquarium water (with this can remove some of the floating detritus) > Fill in the aquarium with the newly mix 1 bucket saltwater. A thing to note: the level of saltwater in the tank will increase due to the added volume of sand (need to consider any issue of saltwater overflow in the tank)

[Quas111]

I added sand to my tank before, so I can help a bit on this. The sand MUST be washed if it is dead sand. Emphasis on MUST. There will be contaminants like fine sand you don't want in your tank. And washing the sand reduces the amount of fine dust particles in your tank, preventing it from being cloudy.

When you pour the sand into your tank, pour into one side, and chase all your fish and mobile inverts to the other side of the tank. try to get the sand to be in a fine stream, and try not to empty the sand all at once. A lot of water will get displaced and your floor would be very wet. It does not matter if the sand lands on your rocks, but be wary if it lands on corals. Some corals cannot move to brush sand off itself so you will experience coral death if you don't clean the sand of your corals. Once you have poured the sand on that side, move it (very slowly) across the tank and flatten the sand. This minimizes the old sand being upturned and sending up unwanted detritus back into the display tank. Once the sand has been flattened, for personal preference of aesthetic appeal, I try to slope the sand onto the rock to make it look like there is more rock under the glass. Also do not lift any live rock structure when you pour your sand. This will cause the structure to become unstable. The weight of the sand also prevents the rocks from toppling over a lot. Hope this helps

[bomber]

Thanks guys...I really very helpful..I think I shall slowly do it this weekend...

[woyeng**]

As long as you wash your sand properly should be ok.

cause i intend to add dead sand to my sand bed but afraid something might happen to my tank....