Replacing Live Sand

[stefday]

Hi,

I read somewhere that you should replace live sand from time to time.

If this is true how much should you replace and how often?

Thanks for any advice.

Stef

 

[-Nemo-]

You should never replace your sand... It could result in your tank re-cycling which is bad.

 

[stefday]

Thanks.

I have also read conflicking reports as to whether you should clean the sand from time to time using a gravel cleaner.

Does anybody know what you should do and why?

Thanks.

Stef

 

[-Nemo-]

How deep is your sand and have you been sifting it thus far?

If you have a really deep sand bed (~ 5" [12/5cm]) you generally don't want to disturb that or you can release ammonia into your tank... In smaller sandbeds, as long as you sift often I think you should. As to using a gravel vac, if you have larger particle sand that won't get sucked up, I don't see a big problem with it... Nothing good should get sucked up. I have very very fine sand, so I just sift it with my hand to get all the junk up.

 

[ben1987]

old sand is actually linked to something called old tank syndrome, which is where a tank can apear to deteriorate over time while params stay in check.

i usually siphon my sand bed on water change day just to remove any rubbish. you obviously lose a little bit each time, so i top it up when it gets a bit low and im pretty much continuously changing mine. I dont use live sand though just my opinion but i think its a complete marketing gimmick

old tank syndrome is usually a theory people have about tanks several years old, i dont think yours is more than a couple of years old yet is it? id not worry yet tbh.

 

[SkiFletch]

Agree with Ben, live sand is a gimmick. I wouldn't reccomend 100% sand changes as there are beneficial organisms in the sand bed usually in the shape of worms, pods, and other good guys that do some quality cleanup. However moderate changes, say 50% or so of the sand bed might be beneficial to everything in the long term. I changed half my sand when I moved and din't have any cycling problems.

 

[Yuma]

Interesting story this week from a local reef club member. He was running a 5-6 inch sand bed, established more than 2 years. Was starting to have some issues with corals not opening up all the way, fish unhappy, etc. Checked his parameters and everything was well withing range.

Was considering changing some things around anyway, so he started by taking out about half of his sand. Next day, corals wide open, water parameters in check and fish perked up, everything back to normal.

Curious, I did some reading on the "old tank syndrome" mentioned by ben and it appears that it primarily pertains to deep sand beds, greater than say 4 or 5 inches, and the consensus seems to be that the onset is "generally" around the 2 year mark. Also, in general, a couple of cups of sand from someone else's established tanks is usually enough to get things going again. Just adding the biodiversity seems to help do the trick.

Again, all of this is general terms as no two tanks are the same, but I thought I'd share a real life experience from one of the local folks here who had the issue and what I had read. He's taken out about half of his sand and had no issues with cycling.

Yuma