Adding sand

[Rmckoy]

Thinking of adding sand to the 230 gal but after the crash From upgrading to this tank I don’t know if it’s worth it .

there is some sand on the bottom in places but there is also some gha , red algae , coralline , in other places attached to the glass .

will adding sand on top of everything established cause more hassle than it’s worth ?
attached is a few pictures of the bottom

 

[blaxsun]

If it were me, I'd probably try to scrape everything off as best as possible - and possibly even go as far as temporarily removing the rocks and corals to a separate heated and filtered tub.

 

[Subsea]

Your tank looks mature. Why add sand now?

 

[Subsea]

I just looked at some of your threads. Did you just transfer from 90G to 120G ten days ago? I saw your thread in chemistry forum about zero nitrates & high phosphates. Did you resolve that?


From the point of view of stability, I like aroggonite subsrate with a reverse flow undergravel filter. After nitrification bacteria cycle is established, I seed sandbed with diver collected live sand and live rock. In your case, you are introducing the biodome from your 90G tank.

 

[Rmckoy]

Your tank looks mature. Why add sand now?

It is mature .

this tank was a transfer 2 years ago from a 90 gal that’s been running for 5 plus years .
when I transferred I crashed the tank by adding a few handfuls of old sand without enough water to run filtration .

I prefer a sand bottom

 

[Rmckoy]

I just looked at some of your threads. Did you just transfer from 90G to 120G ten days ago? I saw your thread in chemistry forum about zero nitrates & high phosphates. Did you resolve that?


From the point of view of stability, I like aroggonite subsrate with a reverse flow undergravel filter. After nitrification bacteria cycle is established, I seed sandbed with diver collected live sand and live rock. In your case, you are introducing the biodome from your 90G tank.

The 90 to 230 transfer was 1.5 years ago
Oct 2020

I believe the the benefit of having a sand bottom also provides buffering to further stabilize alk and cal . But has the potential risk of releasing toxins into the water column if disturbed . ( as learned when transferred .

the 90 gal I had no issue keeping any coral . Everything grew and was happy
Using the same light source ( t5’s )
parameter swings were easier to adjust as they were minimal . Which I believe it had a lot to do with having a sand bottom .

 

[Subsea]

The 90 to 230 transfer was 1.5 years ago
Oct 2020

I believe the the benefit of having a sand bottom also provides buffering to further stabilize alk and cal . But has the potential risk of releasing toxins into the water column if disturbed . ( as learned when transferred .

the 90 gal I had no issue keeping any coral . Everything grew and was happy
Using the same light source ( t5’s )
parameter swings were easier to adjust as they were minimal . Which I believe it had a lot to do with having a sand bottom .

Yes to bufferring & trace mineral addiction from aroggonite substrate. For 20 years I operated a Jaubert Plenum with 6” sandbed of aroggonite. Five years ago, I reduced sand bed to 2” and plumbed in reverse flow under the plenum.

 

[Rmckoy]

Yes to bufferring & trace mineral addiction from aroggonite substrate. For 20 years I operated a Jaubert Plenum with 6” sandbed of aroggonite. Five years ago, I reduced sand bed to 2” and plumbed in reverse flow under the plenum.

In the 90 gal . The middle section of my sump was a refuge . With 6” dsb
The section was 12”x12”

I also had 2” sandbed in the dt .

 

[Rmckoy]

Picked up one bag to start ….

 

[vetteguy53081]

Keep in mind, adding sand adds silicates which create diatom and other side effects

 

[Rmckoy]

Keep in mind, adding sand adds silicates which create diatom and other side effects

A little good with the bad .
Still trying to decide if the benefits are worth it

 

[Sleeping Giant]

If you do add it, add it slowly over a couple of days. I used a Ziploc bag half filled with sand, removed as much of the air as possible, put the sand bag into the tank at the bottom, opened it a bit to allow the sand to flow out and it came out nicely with little to no cloudiness. I closed the Ziploc after the sand emptied out and removed the bag and whatever water and debris was captured in the bag.
I did this over 4 days when I needed more sand in my aquarium.

 

[Subsea]

A little good with the bad .
Still trying to decide if the benefits are worth it

Did you add aroggonite or did you add playground sand which is silica oxide?

 

[Rmckoy]

Did you add aroggonite or did you add playground sand which is silica oxide?

I haven’t added anything yet .
I bought caribsea aragonite