Tank is crashing :(

[Myka]

Good luck. You're probably right that you don't have much to lose at this point. Hopefully the removal will help turn things round for you.

Originally Posted by tang daddy

people usually skim the top layer when removing their sand bed 1/2" at a time...

I wouldn't do it that way. Exposing deeper layers is the opposite of what you want to do. When I remove a sand bed I remove the entire depth of sand from say 1/4 of the tank, then replace that area with new sand, then next week remove the next 1/4 and replace, and so on.