Ok, i've had an off and on problem with nitrates, the tank came with a fine dust of well, crap I guess, from the former owner feeding only one fish and with the bristle worms i'm thinking of pulling all sand and replacing it or cleaning it if that's possible
I have a 55 gallon, and am worried about the cycle, of course. .is it feasible to pull the sand out and rinse it free of stuff and then replace it? I'm thinking of doing that, and then helping with a bag of this
http://www.petco.com/product/15439/Nature-s-Ocean-Bio-Activ-Live-Aragonite-Reef-Substrate.aspx
If it's not feasible to clean it, would 50 lbs of regular marine sand and a 10 lb bag of that listed above be ok? I'm worried about screwing the entire cycle up.
My thoughts are to create an entire new batch of RO water and put it in my 50 gallon garbage can I use for cleaning and or/making the ro water, setting it up with a heater and a water pump, place all the rocks in it(may take both my garbage cans, ick, so much water LOL), pull all the sand out and rinse it real well(or throw it out if I can't rinse it). Put a powerhead down low in the tank to keep all particles circulating so the skimmer can work on it and let that run for 24 hrs, blast the rocks to get any residual stuff of of it, and then put it back together.
How's that sound?
I have a 55 gallon, and am worried about the cycle, of course. .is it feasible to pull the sand out and rinse it free of stuff and then replace it? I'm thinking of doing that, and then helping with a bag of this
http://www.petco.com/product/15439/Nature-s-Ocean-Bio-Activ-Live-Aragonite-Reef-Substrate.aspx
If it's not feasible to clean it, would 50 lbs of regular marine sand and a 10 lb bag of that listed above be ok? I'm worried about screwing the entire cycle up.
My thoughts are to create an entire new batch of RO water and put it in my 50 gallon garbage can I use for cleaning and or/making the ro water, setting it up with a heater and a water pump, place all the rocks in it(may take both my garbage cans, ick, so much water LOL), pull all the sand out and rinse it real well(or throw it out if I can't rinse it). Put a powerhead down low in the tank to keep all particles circulating so the skimmer can work on it and let that run for 24 hrs, blast the rocks to get any residual stuff of of it, and then put it back together.
How's that sound?