New substrate,,, wet or dry??

[aquablizz]

Since I have been battling high nitrates for some time now I am considering replacing all my substrate. My display tank currently is a 75 gal. fish only system with 30 gal. sump up and running for 15 years. My intention is to move into the reefing world gradually but want a stable system before I even consider adding anything else.

My question is if I replace the substrate, does it really make sense to go with live sand?? My concern is the fact that I'm sure a lot of bacteria in these prepackaged bags of so-called live sand will already arrive dead which I feel will spike the ammonia and nitrite parameters.

Since my system has been relatively healthy and I do not currently keep inverts or coral,, I would think going with dry sand makes more sense then taking a chance with the live stuff.

Any thoughts on this from forum members??

Blizz

 

[Duke4Life]

If you are going to do this you need to remove the old sand over a span of a week or 2 weeks and do small sections. I always use dry and a cup full from an established system to help seed the new.

 

[jbow50]

Even if you do this theres a chance your rocks could be leaching phosphate and nitrate. Best bet would be to run media if thats an option for awhile to pull nutrients out of the water which will free up nutrients from the rock to be pulled out as well.

 

[Duke4Life]

Run a skimmer?

 

[aquablizz]

My Phosphates are near zero,, nitrates are the only problem I see.. I run a skimmer 24-7 but it only pulls about a cup of skim every 3 days.

 

[aquablizz]

If you are going to do this you need to remove the old sand over a span of a week or 2 weeks and do small sections. I always use dry and a cup full from an established system to help seed the new.

This is exactly my point.. is it important to re seed the substrate if I am running a sump that is equal to 50 percent of my display tank... live stock load is small and I don't overfeed..

 

[Duke4Life]

This is exactly my point.. is it important to re seed the substrate if I am running a sump that is equal to 50 percent of my display tank... live stock load is small and I don't overfeed..

No because overtime it becomes Live anyways, will just take a bit longer to mature.

 

[aquablizz]

We know there are many hobbyist that run bare bottom systems so do not want to depend at all on my substrate to be a major part of my system... Does this make sense?

 

[Duke4Life]

We know there are many hobbyist that run bare bottom systems so do not want to depend at all on my substrate to be a major part of my system... Does this make sense?

Yes it does. I'm currently relying on my live rock as I haven't replaced my sand since I moved.

 

[tankstudy]

If your just replacing sand with sand, I would not replace it. Not to mention, you will never really know how much bacteria comes in the live sand with out really running an ammonia-digestion test to confirm it. If you end up short, your going to have to buy bottled bacteria on top of that.

Your battle with nitrates is pretty common. Alot tanks actually do not have the means/methods to remove the nitrate with out additional assistance. Some people get lucky and they are able to produce an environment that causes certain bacteria to use nitrate with out additional assistance.

Using biopellets or carbon dosing techniques will work. Just make sure your skimmer is adequate to remove the bacteria that is produced thru these methods. They are so efficient that I actually struggle to keep some amount of nitrate in my tank.

 

[john.m.cole3]

Phosphates typically reside in the pore network of rocks and are on hard surfaces. That's why large water changes don't affect your PO4 levels. It sounds like you want a fairly thin layer of sand for aesthetic purposes. What size sand grain do you have now? Do you siphon your sand bed at water change time to keep it clean? If you like your sand grain size, you could always remove your sand, rinse in tap w/ a garden hose, soak in some saltwater, then return to your display. Depending on the DT size it's prob a full days worth of work. The above mentioned carbon dosing seems to be popular as well. Good Luck!