How often do you replace sand?

[musel101]

How often do you ADD sand in your reef tank? Due to filters etc.

 

[shakacuz]

never?

i'm sure some have added, or removed sand. not sure why you would want to replace it often, or at all.

edit: assuming you're switching/upgrading tanks you can rinse your old sand THOROUGHLY before putting in new tank. no need to "replace"

 

[Idech]

I replaced mine during a tank upgrade to avoid an ammonia spike but I wouldn’t routinely plan to replace sand.

 

[Troylee]

Never unless I’m upgrading tanks.

 

[musel101]

never?

i'm sure some have added, or removed sand. not sure why you would want to replace it often, or at all.

I just noticed I lose a lot of sand because of my filtration methods not water changes but a custom filter that I built is pretty strong and it sucks up a lot of sand due to my pistol shrimp kicking it up

 

[musel101]

I replaced mine during a tank upgrade to avoid an ammonia spike but I wouldn’t routinely plan to replace sand.

Just replacing what has been lost to filtration not replacing the whole sand, bed

 

[shakacuz]

I just noticed I lose a lot of sand because of my filtration methods not water changes but a custom filter that I built is pretty strong and it sucks up a lot of sand due to my pistol shrimp kicking it up

i'm not following.

how does a pistol shrimp kick enough sand up that you need to replace it? do you have pictures of your tank? or a video showing how much sand is being sucked/pushed around by your strong filter?

 

[musel101]

i'm not following.

how does a pistol shrimp kick enough sand up that you need to replace it? do you have pictures of your tank? or a video showing how much sand is being sucked/pushed around by your strong filter?

It’s a really fine sand I’ll put some pictures and videos up

 

[Troylee]

Do you have extra fine sand such as oolite?

 

[shakacuz]

It’s a really fine sand I’ll put some pictures and videos up

if the sand is too fine, yes it will blow around if you have strong pumps. you can always add some heavier grade sand to weigh the lighter stuff down. or, cutting down on power for the filter?

 

[musel101]

Do you have extra fine sand such as oolite?

It’s a finer than that

 

[Troylee]

It’s a finer than that

Yikes… well you can keep adding new sand or getting something more coarse to layer the top such as reef grade.

 

[musel101]

Yikes… well you can keep adding new sand or getting something more coarse to layer the top such as reef grade.

When I get up in the morning, the sand dunes have shifted in the tank it’s like a brand new tank every morning with how much the sand moves. I’ve had the fish for years. I’ve had the pistol shrimp for quite a long time as well no ill effects to any livestock in my tank.

 

[MnFish1]

How often do you ADD sand in your reef tank? Due to filters etc.

Never. Unless upgrading to a new tank

 

[Idech]

Just replacing what has been lost to filtration not replacing the whole sand, bed

Oh, ok. Adding sand then. I never do that either. I don’t lose much to filtration.

 

[Uncle99]

Just replacing what has been lost to filtration not replacing the whole sand, bed

That’s fine, lose some, add some.

 

[jda]

It can dissolve over the decades. It has to be replaced. I do not remove sand just to replace it.