changing out crushed coral

[Madreefer]

Originally Posted by Rbacchiega

I had to drain and buff out scratches on two of my friends acrylic tanks...here's what I did:

Drain the tanks and keep as much as the water as possible, I used rubbermaid tubs, but each tank was 120, so yeah. If you've got some powerheads, place one in every container. It shouldn't take you too long to change out the sand, so I wouldn't worry about heaters. Place the live rock and any corals in one tub and the fish in another.

Use a dustpan (a brand spankin new one) to take out all the crushed coral. This is now your fish dustpan!

Put your live rock back in and scape it as you wish (the tank is still without water at this point) Add sand. It will take longer, but I put it in by hand or using a cup, that way you can fill around the rocks. Go with rocks first to avoid any unwanted settling. Fill with water left over from the bin that had the live rock and coral. Add fish and the water from their bucket and top off.

Hope this helps

+1 I've done it this exact way probably 4 times now with no problems at all.