Replacing sand

[Randy’s reef]

Hi everyone , I have a situation I have special grade in the tank for a little over a year ,I HATE IT,I have snails everything but it’s too big and grainy and now there’s cooraline all over it , I want to remove it , but I have a pretty big sump so I was thinking of buying the dry sand I like and putting it in the sump for a few months then remove special grade , then add the sand I like slowly to the tank over the course of weeks , as I slowly remove the special grade… is this a good idea will it harm anything what do you guys think?

 

[FurrierTransform]

So let me be sure I understand: you have an existing live sand bed, which you don't like. You'd like to replace the sand with another kind of sand, currently dry and sterile. I think your plan of cycling your new sand in the sump is a good plan, then replacing the sand in the tank. But I am not sure how you would gradually swap out the sand without the two kinds mixing. I expect once your new sand is cured, you can do an entire replacement in one go. Do you also have live rock? If so, the rock will be a stabilizing influence on your biome.

I have heard that moving live sand around degrades the anaerobic bacteria (in the gray colored bottom of the bed), and so you may have to let the bed rebuild itself. I have not verified this however.