Adding new live sand

EZJP · Nov 9, 2014

I recently have been removing, and finally got rid of a bad cyano outbreak. In the process of vacuuming the cyano I lost about 3/4 of the sand bed and my nitrates have jumped from 0 to 20. Is it a good idea to add new live sand to the tank, and if so what would be the best approach? Also, could the loss of so much live sand be the reason for high nitrates?

The tank is a 16 innovative marine reef tank that has been up and running for two years w/out any issues except the cyano.

Thanks...

EZJP · Nov 10, 2014

Was this a dumb question? Lol

143MPCo · Nov 10, 2014

How deep was the sand bed?

In essences you have started a mini-cycle by removing that much sand, sand beds aid in the nitrification process but, also hold a lot of waste in different forms (reason for the cyano maybe to begin with) that can contribute to the spikes you are now seeing with nitrates. the addition of more sand will not resolve the issue immediately. You can add the sand, but I would do a few water changes along the way until everything stabilizes.

EZJP · Nov 10, 2014

Thx for the reply. Was about inch and 1/2.

143MPCo · Nov 10, 2014

Keep us posted...

EZJP · Nov 10, 2014

I definitely will. I purchased a bag of Caribsea live sand today and I plan on adding about 1/3 of the bag today and spread the rest in over a period of a week. My fingers are crossed on this one. Thanks again for the reply.

EZJP · Dec 3, 2014

Hi, I am back after the sand replacement and after one week the trates dropped from 20 to 5, the following week dropped to zero. Finally, the Nitrates shot up to 20 after the third week. Now the nitrates are down to 0 and holding. So far so good. I am still maintaining WC every week and all water tests are coming back normal.

:smile:

143MPCo · Dec 3, 2014

EZJP said:
Hi, I am back after the sand replacement and after one week the trates dropped from 20 to 5, the following week dropped to zero. Finally, the Nitrates shot up to 20 after the third week. Now the nitrates are down to 0 and holding. So far so good. I am still maintaining WC every week and all water tests are coming back normal.

:smile:

Congrats!

Feels good when things fall in place, don't it?