Adding Sand

[rededteck]

I have a 220 gallon tank almost 2 years old. Everything is well except I am wondering about my sand bed as I have about 1 inch on the bottom of this tank. I have been fighting higher than normal nitrates for a while. I have several beautiful fish as well.

Seeing this tank is mature, has anyone added sand to an existing system with success. I have plenty of the Southdown sand, however, I question a few things

1) If I place sand in the tank, what is the best method to get it in there without making a huge mess

2) Will layering on top of live sand kill what is below the surface?

3) Does the benefit outweigh the issues I may have by adding the sand?

Looking for some expert advice.

[kevinpo]

I added sand in preparation of a new tank. I cleaned the new sand and then used a Cool Wip container to put it in. The tank I added it to had been setup for 5 years. If you lower the container carefully to the bottom and gently tip it on its side you can minimize the disturbance. The water was cloudy for a few hours but other than that no ill effect. After about 4 months I removed this sand and used it to seed a new tank.

Regards,
Kevin

[Bughead]

I increased the sand bed in my 100 gal about nine months ago. It was a bit of a pain in the a$$, but I did it by adding 1/2 inch of sand to a third of the tank at a time, then wait 2 or 3 days and add sand to another third of the tank. It took a while to go from 2 inches to 4-6 inches. After it was all done, someone on this BB had a great suggestion of shooting the new sand down a piece of PVC pipe. I got a 3" PVC pipe 2 feet long. We put the pipe end into the tank, I guide where I want the sand to go and my hubby pours sand in. It's really a two person job, but it works beautifully, creating a minimum of cloudiness.

I would always add the sand in the evening just before the actinics were to turn off. That way I wouldn't have to stress myself looking at a milky looking tank, and it would be perfectly clear by morning. The fish never appeared stressed at all during the whole process--unlike their human .

[YoHo]

I heard a great way to do this from a Fresh Water guy. Use a long piece of PVC pipe and feed the sand into it. that will kep the clouding to a minimum. Haven't tried it myself though.

[srgtkoons]

Magnum canister filter with the micron cartridge thing will clear up a tank in short order. I just helped someone set up a 220 gal and we put in about 5 inches of southdown and another inch of caribsea. We hooked up the canister filter and it was clear in about two hours.

[rededteck]

Thanks for all the replies, I will try the PVC trick and will do this at night. Hopefully my berlin skimmer will clean it out quickly as well.