Hello fellow reefers! I've had a 20 gallon tank established for about 2 years. When I set it up, I thought it would look sleek to have a glass bottom tank. Well 2 years later I'm regretting it and wishing I had some sand in there. Is there any safe way to add sand to an existing tank? I've read some people will add small bits of non-live sand at a time to prevent a huge re-cycle.
Adding sand to an existing tank
- Thread starter fonduecat
- Start date
I think you hit the nail on the head, add small amounts until you reach the desired level of sand. I don't know how much to tell you to add per week, 20 gallons is a pretty small little ecosystem so to prevent it from going out of balance I'd guess on the smaller amount side....1/2 a cup to 1 cup per week? Just a guess. I've found a piece of pvc pipe with a funnel attached to the top works well at adding sand and not having it go all over the place or get stuck in the water column for days...
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Ya its pretty common to add sand to a matured tank, and wouldn't think it would cause much of any cycle in doing so. Never tried adding to one that didnt already have some in it though, so if you want to be cautious then do maybe a quarter of what you want at a time. Wait a few days in between, test for a cycle if you feel the need, and then add more. Use a long automotive or kitchen funnel to add the sand in, while the pumps are off to avoid a huge cloudy mess. It will still cloud up some but will settle quickly
As long as you are not using old "used" sand you shouldn't see much parameter spiking as you are not introducing any new nutrients into the system, just sand. If you are using "used" sand, then you want to rinse the heck out of to avoid a nutrient spike. Most people run into trouble with sand when they reuse old sand without rinsing it first.