Productive Day
 

Removed half my sand, replaced with heavier sand. Hooked up my Apex->WP cable, got waves going over the cross brace and the new sand is staying put. Yay.
For the first time in years I have sand in the front of my tank, not stoopid egg crate.
Apparently now I have to maintain said sand. Bummer. Oh well.

Survived the sickness so far, haven't got a single PM telling me I'm a bad mod, and for this I'm going to celebrate with a samatch. Ham, maybe. And a Snickers bar.
I have a barrel of miracle mud at my front door, free for the taking. Please. Ok, fine, it's sludge. But it looks like miracle mud. Which may, in fact, also be sludge. Who knows.

I didn't see any grouchieness. How did you manage to get the sand out? What did you use? And you should kick the guy in the nads fer putting that "light diffuser" on the bottom of your tank:lol:

Cool, come have a productive day with my tank, it needs some serious attention.....I have a new red coral like substance that's formed a really pretty mat over my sand bed. Oh, lots of salt creep around my bulkheads, think I can reuse the salt build up behind the tank on the carpet if I rinse it?? Tank is not looking great but everything is growing like crazy.......

Glad you got rid of the eggcrate, whoever gave you that advice must have been smokin the funky stuff....:mrgreen:

Just used a hose and siphoned it out. Mostly pretty easy. Ya, egg crate on the bottom was just dumb. Hopefully I had a good reason when I did it, although I doubt it. Prolly read it on the internet or something.

The internet never ever lies either! I read it on the internet it must be true.....

Exactly!!

What sand did you put in that's heavier? I need to do the same. No eggcrate for me at the front; just bare glass.

I'm very interested in this heavier sand, as I'm setting up a new tank that I'm planning on having lots gyre type flow in, and would love any tips that won't result in sand dunes blowing about my tank

+1 LOL. Brad is such a trend setter! My sand has been reduced to wet dust and I need to scoop it out as well and replace it with a larger grain.

I used the Seaflor Special Grade from Caribsea.

except for the whole egg crate thing.. that's just ridonkulous.

I guess that's how I would describe mine, more of a mulm than sand. Just floating around the tank, landing in expensive SPS and killing them. sigh...

People still have sand...?? :question: :biggrin:

i even have retro metal halides (does anyone still remember those?) to kick it with my old skool sand bed.

People still have egg crate :wink:

A snickers bar. Dear god, just think of your blood sugar and hot ears Brad. ;)

Than again maybe the sugar buzz will help you get even more work done.

No kidding. If I eat sugar, I have to lie down -lol

It has been found that sugar increases your serotonin levels thus making you feel good... which counters the nagging doubt you just destroyed your tank. ;^P

I think your a great mod but your tank may not think your a great modder. ;^P
I recently removed my 9 yr old 3" - 4" deep sand bed and some of the acros are still adapting.

The miracle mud is great in the garden!!! Just let it settle in the bucket and then drain off most of the saltwater before adding it. Skimmer sludge is another gardeners secret. LoL

Actually, I felt like I was saving my tank! I usually wake to a good film of algae on the front glass, but today, cleaner than ever.
Depending how the new sand develops, I may replace it annually.

Skimmer sludge isn't too salty for a garden? I would not have guessed that it was a good idea to do that.

I run my skimmer with Ozone and set for a very dry foam. Consequently I get a thick sludge. I add the sludge to a 5 gallon pail and then fill with freshwater. I had some squash plants that were showing yellowing on the leaves which is a sign of a deficiency so I put the sludge mix around them. 2 weeks later the leaves were all a vibrant green.