Sandbed Removal Complete - Heavy Graphics

[MtnDewMan]

First of all, thanks to Mojoreef and Mushroom Boy for the hard work they provided today in helping me get through this experience.

As many are aware, I have had major issues with my tank for the last 6 months or more. I am convinced that my sand bed was a major contributor and therefore I removed it today. I had some casualties during the removal. The first, is my prized large colony Acropora Nana ... It as a great piece of coral, but I do not believe the move alone was the problem with it. It was deteriorating pretty much prior to the move, I think this just accelerated it and was probably a blessing that I didn't introduce anything back into the tank because of it. Also, a friend picked up a Flame Angel today from this tank and upon his return home, the fish did not survive. We think we may be able to contribute it to poor fish handling on our parts as it's gills were stuck in the net for too long. This in particular is a terrible feeling for me as it was a beautiful fish.

At any rate, I promised some pictures so here you go:

A couple of the holding tubs I used for coral and rock:

I will be slowly adding new live rock, I added some but have more to add, here it is curing in a trash can.

My tank after I removed the coral:

Coral and some fish in the holding tub:

Second coral and fish holding tub:

Live Rock from the tank in a scraping tub:

The sand removal process, not real elegeant huh?:

The sand is going away:

Mushroom Boy using a shop vac to get that last grain of sand:

No more sand, and a 1-1/2 inch bulkhead for a new spray bar is installed:

Spray bar installed, sorry for the reflection:

Simplified behind the tank plumbing:

Tank is filling up after the plumbing is in place:

Just after refilling, sorry for the reflection:

Lights just on after filling, it is still pretty murky in there:

Livestock in tank, still murky but clearing up:

This is not the final look of the tank by the way, I have more live rock to put in and as such I will be in the process of aquascaping a bit more over the next few weeks. Thought I would get you a first look now

What do you think? Again, thanks to Mojo and MB for all of their help.

 

[outprowllin]

well this tread brought back a few flash backs......lol great pictures....sorry to hear of your few livestock losses...an unfortunate effect of this major task....even as the tank sits with the temporary aquascaping it looks great.. cant wait to see it after you add more rock and have the time to really aquascape it the way youd like.....keep us informed with more pics please and good luck....jaime

 

[Montanarocknreefer]

Well it looks like things went well and hopefully you will have a much healthier tank!

 

[Jim]

Happy the removal went well without any disasters.I'am sure you let out a big sigh of relief when done.

Nice to have fellow reefers help out.

 

[mojoreef]

I have to tell ya thier were a few surprises for me anyway when removing the bed. The first one was what the tank looked like with the corals removed. Due to the lack of (I guess) the rock looked pretty bad. Caked with detritus and algae of all kinds. Second was the location of the Sulfide zone. It was 1/2 and inch below the surface under the rocks, even the rocks had their sulfide zone at that point, not a good sign for sure

Glad you happier now Chuck I thiunk its going to make a huge difference.


Mike

 

[reedman]

Man, what a difference between the "full tank" and the "no-sand" tank. I still have the image of the tank when it was breaching the surface of the water bursting with corals. I'm sure it will surpass its former glory soon. Looks good Chuck.

I dread the day I have to go through that ordeal, but I know it's just a matter of time.

 

[Grouperdog]

I am glad to hear that everything went well for the most part, I am sure it is just a matter of time until it becomes tank of the month again.

 

[MtnDewMan]

Yah ... Mikey was digging in the sand to locate that black zone. And it was high in the sand bed, not lower where it should have been.

So far I have seen some additional coral losses, likely due to the stress of the move or even them being unhealthy prior to the move (which I highly think is possible).

At any rate, for the long run, this will be a good way to go, and it is nice to gain back 25% of my tank, now I think I need longer arms ...

 

[MtnDewMan]

A few day after shots ...

And this one looking somewhat down into the tank ...

 

[David Winther]

Hey Chuck,

Glad to see the tank is getting back on its feet! Good luck with the rest of the restoration! I'm sure it will be the envy of every reefer from here to Florida again soon! Heck, it looks better then mine right now!

Interesting spray bar there. I wouldn't have thought to place it that low in the tank. Are you worried about it blowing to much stuff around?

Is that a crushed coral "covering" you used in place of the sand?

Later!

-Dave

 

[Flatlander]

Looks good. We just did one on the weekend also. Sandbed form his 120 is now in the 100g sump and the new 180 has a thin layer of GeoMarine crushed coral. Is that what you used also?

 

[Mushroom Boy]

I'm still amazed at how much more real estate you've gotten by doing this. It's looking good, and I'm sure in a few months it'll be looking even better!

 

[mojoreef]

Yea CCis what will be going in. Right now chuckie has some rock still curing in a vat so it probibly be a week or so till the scaping gets done, and the CC put down.
Chuck what loss did you have the purple beast still looks real good. Man that water looks clear to.


Mike

 

[mattseattle]

guess my question is .....especially my DSB being only a month old is how can we avoid having the same issue?

my DSB is only 3" right now. Should I add more sand? i've read so many different things on varying depths of DSB's from 3" up to 6" for maxium efficiency.

also when adding another couple inches is this going to cause my tank to cycle again?

 

[CarlS]

Matt I think the lesson here is that DSB's are bad. If I were you and I actually pretty much am with a 55g and 3 inch bed, just stay at 3 inches and vacuum parts of it when doing water changes to remove the detritus. I think you can keep a DSB going for a long time as long as you stir it up a little every now and then. Not too sure though.

I'm still learning so my advice may not be the best. I'm sure some of the big guns will chime in shortly.

Carl

 

[MtnDewMan]

I think we all know how I feel about them right now

 

[David Winther]

Matt I think the lesson here is that DSB's are bad. I think you can keep a DSB going for a long time as long as you stir it up a little every now and then. Not too sure though.

Wow, I disagree 100%. First, I don't think DSB's are bad. Undergravel filter, now that is bad. I never stir my DSB. My DSB is between 6-8 inches deep. The best thing you can do is have a lot of "life" in your DSB. Many people buy all this sand to put in a tank, but fail to get a bunch of good "live" sand to kick start it. You HAVE to get live sand to start a DSB off with. Otherwise you just have a bunch of wet sand. Sure, your "live" rock will seed it, but in reality, most of this so called "live" rock is really dead rock that used to be alive. Get some aquacultered rock shipped directly to you and we can start to call it live rock. That will help seed your DSB MUCH better then the other stuff. A DSB is as much a living part of your aquarium as any coral or fish, and must be maintained as such. I have had both CC Reefs and DSB reef and they both have worked fine for me.

 

[MtnDewMan]

Oh, a side note about mine, talking about life in the sand bed. It was non-existent. Saw very very very few worms or pods in my sand bed when we were pullling it out. Another bad sign of the sand bed functioning properly.

 

[mattseattle]

yeah that is what i was sorta thinking. adding another 3" to my sand bed would take up alot of tank area in my 55g so if it's not beneficial and actually bad then i should stay where i am. any other opinions?

 

[cath]

Great documentation and pics, guys. I've gotta say that I'm wondering about my DSB too. But A couple of comments on mine.. 1) it does get stirred up regularly by my wrasse and tomato clown and 2) I admit right here and now that I failed to get enough LS to kick it in the seat of its pants. But really the problems that I have with it aren't any different from the cc I had before.