Adding more sand

[Bry17nyc]

I was thinking of adding more sand into my tank...about 15 more pounds

i just want to know if its a good think to do ..since my tank is already cycled ....would it raise my ammonia? and go through a mini cycle or nothing would happen

is there a procedure for adding Dead Sand into a cycled tank?

 

[Arati]

I have done it this way with no ill effect

I rinse the sand so its wet.

then bag it up in like quart size bags.

put 1 bag in the tank and place it where you want the sand to be at the bottom . I used a razor to slash the underside of the bag quickly and sand fell right into place without any large cloud formed.

Do one or two a week until you have added all your sand.

I did mine right before the water change each sunday.

 

[jerl77]

This is the way I would do it great advice

I have done it this way with no ill effect

I rinse the sand so its wet.

then bag it up in like quart size bags.

put 1 bag in the tank and place it where you want the sand to be at the bottom . I used a razor to slash the underside of the bag quickly and sand fell right into place without any large cloud formed.

Do one or two a week until you have added all your sand.

I did mine right before the water change each sunday.

Sent from my DROIDX using Reefs

 

[Bry17nyc]

great!.... thanks alot
ill try out:scratch:

 

[yogi]

was thinking of the same thing
found my answer without asking
thanks guys

 

[Bry17nyc]

what about if i buy LIVE sand from a member here from an established tank? wouldn't that be better...

do i still have to go through the same procedure ?

 

[duke62]

i bought a 40 lb bag of dry sand.what i do is take 2 cups and rinse it out until there is no cloud in the water when stirred.i use a plastic cup and let the tank water fill it up.i bring the cup to the bottom of the tank then pour it out slowly.i add like 2 cups every month.im in no rush LOL

 

[Bry17nyc]

i bought a 40 lb bag of dry sand.what i do is take 2 cups and rinse it out until there is no cloud in the water when stirred.i use a plastic cup and let the tank water fill it up.i bring the cup to the bottom of the tank then pour it out slowly.i add like 2 cups every month.im in no rush LOL

duke how long did it take you to put all that sand into the tank?

 

[KathyC]

I was thinking of adding more sand into my tank...about 15 more pounds

i just want to know if its a good think to do ..since my tank is already cycled ....would it raise my ammonia? and go through a mini cycle or nothing would happen

is there a procedure for adding Dead Sand into a cycled tank?

Dead sand..is that what you are going to be adding? Generally not a good idea considering that you can buy new sand at a reasonable price. When it comes from someones tank, you could be adding phosphates/nitrates that it has absorbed. Rinsing it will not remove that from the sand.



One other great way to add sand to a tank without creating a sandstorm in a running tank is to buy a new long style funnel (wash the heck out of it first) and place the tip where you want your sand to go..and simple drop the sand slowly into the funnel.

 

[duke62]

well when i upgraded to my 92 i put in 100lbs and i thought it was looking nice till my pistol shrimp and power heads blew most of it under the rocks.when i added rocks i added them on the tank floor not in sand and i guess the pistol wasnt happy about it.so i now just keep adding every month maybe 3 weeks the 2 cups.no problems so far.i would say it has been around 3 months ive been adding .dont get me wrong i had about an inch of sand on the floor before i started adding

 

[Meadowlane]

So, what's the best sand to add?

 

[Downbeach]

I personally like the sugar sized Oolitic aragonite. I buy the dry sand over the wet "live" sand, since I don't really think the "live" sand sitting on a shelf in a plastic bag, has any real value to it anyway. Beside the fact that it's more expensive and you're paying for the water too.
When I add some to the DT, I use a 5 gal. bucket and fill it about 1/3 full of the substrate, and when I do a water change I use that water and fill the bucket to about 2/3 full. Then I mix it up using my hand, and after the sand settles, dump the water into the toilet, I repeat this about 2-3 more times. After I've drained the remaining water from the bucket I scoop the substrate into 1Gal. freezer bags, which I then lower into the DT and slowly pour out in the area's I want to add a little. You'll never totally eliminate some cloudiness, but I've found this process to keep it to a minimum.