Waters
"...in perfect isolation, here behind my wall."
Finally got all my substrate out.....went BB for several different reasons. Now just gotta hide the egg crate that I couldn't cut out.....time to buy some more coral 
Substrate has been removed!!
- Thread starter Waters
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I can riff on that for nine years if you did it all at once vs the careful incremental approach
Pls tell me you did it mav style
The entire thesis of the sand rinse thread is that you can remove a bed all at once bc the bac aren’t the breakpoint for filtration in the system if any normal amount of live rock is used
Live rock does -not- take on more bac to replace the missing sand
The live rock was always enough, the sand was extra surface area
Pls tell me you did it mav style
The entire thesis of the sand rinse thread is that you can remove a bed all at once bc the bac aren’t the breakpoint for filtration in the system if any normal amount of live rock is used
Live rock does -not- take on more bac to replace the missing sand
The live rock was always enough, the sand was extra surface area
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OP
OP
Waters
"...in perfect isolation, here behind my wall."
In my case, I never had a lot of sand to begin with.....just enough to cover the egg crate. Over the course of a year, I would unintentionally remove a little bit of sand with every weekly water change, to the point where I had probably a 1/4" at its' deepest point. Once I started actually pulling it out, it took me about 3 weeks, because I only took out as much as I could without exceeding my normal 15 gallon a week water change. I could probably pull all the sand and half of my live rock out and it wouldn't make a difference....my tank is grossly under-stocked lol.
I removed all at once on one of my tanks because I could (smaller tank). On a larger one, it would be done over time due to water availability too. Also, my picos, I change over tanks as they get too much algae on glass, and I replace the sand every time.
Looks nice!
Looks nice!
Tuan’s Reef
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I’ve been intentionally siphoning my sand bed with every WC. About 1/5 of a cup is removed each time.
What’s the best way to remove it all at once? Use a net or bowl ? Im afraid I may release toxins in the water column by removing it all. I could take out all my rock scape and livestock while i remove all the sand .
What’s the best way to remove it all at once? Use a net or bowl ? Im afraid I may release toxins in the water column by removing it all. I could take out all my rock scape and livestock while i remove all the sand .
OP
OP
Waters
"...in perfect isolation, here behind my wall."
To be honest, I am not sure since this is the first time I have removed substrate in any of my tanks. I would think siphoning would be the safest but you need would need to have a lot of replacement water ready. I did remove a bunch with a net and didn't have any issues but my substrate was pretty clean to begin with due to the shallow depth and me stirring it weekly with water changes.
