Another ? on sand bed

[30 Gallon Gal]

Sorry but I'm going to sound stupid here (remember I'm new at this) I'm needing to increase my sand-bed & currently only have live sand, I don't however want to add too much live sand - so this is where I need help - what type of sand should I add to this & do I mix it with my existing live sand or layer it? I know it sounds like I don't know what I'm talking about - that's because I don't

[foobuddha]

How long has your tank been set up? And how much sand is in it now?

[30 Gallon Gal]

Only about 4 months - I've got 40lbs of live sand in it now (it's only about 1 1/2 to 2") - Agra Alive brand. My nitrates have been out of control so I wanted to increase my sand bed to see if that'll help.

[foobuddha]

Well, I wouldn't add another 2-3 inches of dead sand all at once. If you wanted to use ls, no problem. Otherwise, I would add gradually over a couple of months.

How high are your nitrates? What's your bioload?

[Prismaco]

Nitrates are probably high dues to over feeding. I remember your other post and you said that you feed them 2 times a day ? Way to much...



-Paul

[30 Gallon Gal]

Thanks to your advice, I have cut back on my feeding - I'm hoping with a few changes I can get things under control. What's amazing though is through it all my corals look awesome, ok except for my zenia. I aslo have way too many fish now that I've done the math - my problem now though is that I've already invested the money into these fish so all I can do is go up to a bigger tank to accomodate them. Right now all the fish are in the QT tank being cured of ich

[Prismaco]

That sucks about the ich issue. Hey mayeb you can trade them in at your LFS for credit. Try doin water changes more often also. That will cut back some of it....


-Paul

[foobuddha]

Ah, now I recall the bioload in your tank and the ich problem.

You will almost certainly have high nitrates with that many fish eating and pooping.

For the ich, keep in mind that even when the fish look like they are parasite free, there may well still be tomonts in your display tank that will jump on the chance of a new host. Coupled with the stress the fish will go through being moved from the qt to the display and the amount of fish, I would be worried about the ich coming right back.

[30 Gallon Gal]

Gee you guys are a ball of laughs & full of good news!!! Yep I did what most new enthusiasts do & go crazy all at once & now I'm paying for it (literally) What's a gal to do......
I'm going to keep the fish in the QT for the full treatment although I worry about them being in the smaller tank for so long. I don't think my LFS will take them back seeing how they sold them to me in the first place knowing I only had the 30gal tank. It's sounding like I'm up the river without a paddle at this point. I'll try & get them well then maybe I can pass them on to someone with a bigger tank who can care for them. I don't think the regal tang is going to make it anyway but I really like my orange banded butterfly fish & he seems to be doing ok. I'm depressed..........

[Prismaco]

Welcome to the salt water world..... Mother Nature sure new what she was doing....



-Paul