Last resort..... just need help on how to do it.

[garcia64]

I have been having nitrate issues in my tank and have been playing with the idea of going BB but didnt want to disturb the sand bed to much and cause more problems. However the more I read the more I see this is a better option in the long run and I like how favias and chalices look on a bare bottom. I have about 60 pounds of live sand in my tank along with about 75-80 pounds of live rock. What would be the best way to remove the sand with out causing a total tank crash, I have some very nice coral that I would be devastated to see them lost in a tank crash.

 

[SeahorseKeeper]

I would siphon a portion out with each water change.

 

[Labridaedicted]

I would siphon a portion out with each water change.

+1. This is the best option

 

[garcia64]

Should I be surprised if I see ammonia and nitrite go up? the tank is about 9 months old so I dont believe to much should be trapped in the sand bed.

 

[zoomonster]

There's plenty of options to deal with the nitrate issue which going to a bare bottom may not resolve. Aquaforest, KZ and others make bio additives that work to varying degree's and of course there's bio pellet, zeolite etc reactors. I've had issues with nitrates and a less than nice looking sandbed and used Aquaforest Pro Bio S for a while. Not sure that it really did a lot to reduce nitrate/phosphate but sand bed is the best its ever looked since new. I don't like bare bottom just because it limits your options with various sand dwelling critters, wrasses and assorted other fish like gobies.

 

[zoomonster]

Should I be surprised if I see ammonia and nitrite go up? the tank is about 9 months old so I dont believe to much should be trapped in the sand bed.

There might be some but the biggest risk with disturbing a sand bed is usually hydrogen sulfide. Probably not a big risk since yours is not that old. Personally if I was going to remove a sand bed I would remove everything from the tank with as much existing water as possible and then just remove it all right down to vacuuming the bottom with a wet/dry vac. Then add back some new saltwater and then rock. Then I would start adding back some of the existing salt water. Top off tank with new water and then acclimate corals and fish back. You never know whats lurking in a sand bed and I have seen fish get sick with ich etc. after stirring one up.

 

[garcia64]

There's plenty of options to deal with the nitrate issue which going to a bare bottom may not resolve. Aquaforest, KZ and others make bio additives that work to varying degree's and of course there's bio pellet, zeolite etc reactors. I've had issues with nitrates and a less than nice looking sandbed and used Aquaforest Pro Bio S for a while. Not sure that it really did a lot to reduce nitrate/phosphate but sand bed is the best its ever looked since new. I don't like bare bottom just because it limits your options with various sand dwelling critters, wrasses and assorted other fish like gobies.

My stocking list does not include sand dwellers and I am okay with this, I currently use NO3 PO4 x from red sea and see little to no results,I have been wanting to switch to the aquaforest pro biotic salt and pro bio s but am waiting to use up the current salt I have

 

[Thle009]

Especially when you have favias and chalices, getting rid of the sand is a reasonable option. I would turn off the power heads, and pump before sucking out the sand during a water change. I removed my live sand after failure to get rid of the red slime with the different chemicals and even when I'm dosing Zeolite products without incident. I had about 1" of sand on my tank.

 

[garcia64]

Especially when you have favias and chalices, getting rid of the sand is a reasonable option. I would turn off the power heads, and pump before sucking out the sand during a water change. I removed my live sand after failure to get rid of the red slime with the different chemicals and even when I'm dosing Zeolite products without incident. I had about 1" of sand on my tank.

Did you remove it all at once or little by little?

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

Sounds like you had too much Sand to clean and not enough for a DSB. That's pretty common.
Hydrogen sulfide seems pretty un common and you would already have problems if it were a thing for you.

IMO if you want to try bare bottom do it like a transfer or up grade get a bunch o buckets dump the water down to the minimum transfer the fish into one with a powerhead and suck all the sand out. Then refill.
Pulling sand out slowly is gonna stir up funk. I personally would avoid that.

I'd have some prime or bio spira on hand as you will have weakend the bio filter in the tank quite substantially. You'll likely have some algae blooms cyano etc etc but nothing major until the cycle gains strength again. Possibly and maybe ammonia could be an issue but not likely IMO. But better safe than sorry.
You may want to consider more live rock in the sump or marine pure blocks now before you do it to give the bacteria a place to work.

 

[garcia64]

I could do a large 25g water change and just reuse most of the old water then?

 

[garcia64]

Sounds like you had too much Sand to clean and not enough for a DSB. That's pretty common.
Hydrogen sulfide seems pretty un common and you would already have problems if it were a thing for you.

IMO if you want to try bare bottom do it like a transfer or up grade get a bunch o buckets dump the water down to the minimum transfer the fish into one with a powerhead and suck all the sand out. Then refill.
Pulling sand out slowly is gonna stir up funk. I personally would avoid that.

I'd have some prime or bio spira on hand as you will have weakend the bio filter in the tank quite substantially. You'll likely have some algae blooms cyano etc etc but nothing major until the cycle gains strength again. Possibly and maybe ammonia could be an issue but not likely IMO. But better safe than sorry.
You may want to consider more live rock in the sump or marine pure blocks now before you do it to give the bacteria a place to work.

Forgot to reply to you in my post above.

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

I could do a large 25g water change and just reuse most of the old water then?

Yea. Re use all the water from the "top" it'll be clean. The funk will settle on the bottom throw it away with the sand.
Same method I used for my upgrade. If your worried about live stock and the time it's out of the water just put it in the clean used water while you scrub the sand out. My full bio cube to to 30 cube transfer took me about six to eight hours.
The only goofy thing I did was put a canister filter I had into the system to pull extra detritus out. That cube is sump less.

 

[garcia64]

Yea. Re use all the water from the "top" it'll be clean. The funk will settle on the bottom throw it away with the sand.
Same method I used for my upgrade. If your worried about live stock and the time it's out of the water just put it in the clean used water while you scrub the sand out. My full bio cube to to 30 cube transfer took me about six to eight hours.
The only goofy thing I did was put a canister filter I had into the system to pull extra detritus out. That cube is sump less.

Awesome, well I guess I know what my weekend project is, Now would there be a problem with my nitrates possibly dropping so quickly? should I continue dosing NO3 PO4 X?

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

I am not an expert on those dosing regimines. Honestly if I had chronic low no and Po I'd shut off the skimmer and feed more or just feed more.
It's probably best to continue the dosing regimen however and continue to monitor the levels. Po should not drop substantially. No should remain stable as your fighting low levels and not high. Any up spike should be cleared by the water changes. And honestly a spike is only going to result in a brief ugly phase or awesome coral growth.

 

[Thle009]

Did you remove it all at once or little by little?

I removed 95% in 1 shot. About 2 bag of live sand that's being sold at petco.

 

[garcia64]

So I just removed all the sand and did a 25 gallon water change, updated rock scape and added bio spira now to wait test and do 10g water changes every other day

 

[ReefToLive1]

I did the exact same thing about a year ago on my 93 rimless, Just make sure all of your parameters are in check and you should be just fine. Good luck

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

So I just removed all the sand and did a 25 gallon water change, updated rock scape and added bio spira now to wait test and do 10g water changes every other day

When I did my transfer I did only weekly water changes and only tested ph and salinity.
Nothing died. Ph did did drop as I suspected it would but I added an air stone.