Looking for some input

nemogonecrazy

Non-member
So I have been bouncing around the idea of changing my sand bed I originally started the tank with a fine substrate. However I'm getting kind of sick of constantly needing to clean the Rock due to the occasional sandstorm I did not want to lose the beneficial bacteria that has grown in the sand bed which is a few years old now and I just hate to think about getting rid of it. So I was thinking of taking the sanded out and placing it in my sump thus creating roughly a 4 inch DSB in the middle chamber of my sump my sump consist of a 40 gallon breeder the middle chamber is probably 13 inches long. So I guess I'm just looking for some input from fellow reefers as to the pros and cons of this .
 
Pros
You’ll have a dinitrifing section, can put some plants with roots in the fuge.

Cons
Unless that sand is fairly new, you’re going to have a lot of sediment in it that could disrupt your tank inhabitants pretty badly.

I just swapped out my sand for a slightly bigger grain. This is what it looked like in a bucket
9D8815D6-5BCC-4FD5-B303-F49E24B92601.jpeg
7CDEACFF-2DA2-4EAB-A999-78B014D98270.jpeg
 
You could just add the new sand on top of the old one in small layers... Changing out a sand bed is a royal PITA... I've only ever done it when I've swapped tanks or had to move my tank to make it lot easier...

If you do change the sandbed I'd suggest lowering the water to just a few inches above the current sandbed and putting fish corals and rock in buckets to keep it as clear as possible. I've always done it that way and it's helped keep the tank as clear as possible so it doesn't look like the above pictures lol...
 
I would also do as afboundguy said. Many of us including myself have had tanks crash due to disturbing sandbeds more than an inch or so deep. If you are going to swap sand I woulsd also remove as much water as possible with all livestock, corals, rock. toss sand and clean tank then put back what you want. If you want to save some bacteria use new sand in sump and seed with a bit of old.
 
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