How to change from CC to Sand

[Tanked]

This is what I have a 75 gallon .I'm want to change from CC to
sand .I was thinking about the Carib-Sea Special Reef Grade .How can I
get all the CC out and the Sand in without making a mess of my tank or
affecting my tank.

[flame]

Welcome to CR.
Sorry I do not have an answer for you though

[dakar]

Welcome Aboard.... I can't think of a single way to remove it with disrupting the entire system.... It'll still make some mess but since it's pretty shallow you could remove what you can by hand, using a gravel vaccum to remove as much of the crus as possible first, and cover the rest with sand. Presoaking the new sand in SW for a week or two will help reduce some of the sandstorm. If you dump it into the tank though it'll stir up for sure...best to try and get it to settle right to the bottom by using a hose and siphon it from another container into your tank.

Over time the CC will naurally rise to the top of the sandbed. The same way rocks grow in the garden, the finer particle sand will fill in below the CC and force it to the top. So just covering it all may not yield the results you want.

[KG]

Tanked, here's what I'd do:
1. Set up a temporary home for your critters using mostly water from your old tank - no substrate.
2. Buy the sand and wash it really well. Once you think you've washed it enough, do it again.
3. Move everything over including your mechanical filtration to your temp tank.
4. Remove the crushed coral and rinse the tank out well with fresh water.
5. Put the sand in and fill with all new saltwater
6. Let that run for a day with a cheap mechanical HOT filter with plenty of carbon to remove the cloudiness. Rinse it several times.
7. After you're sure all the parameters are right, move you livestock back along with the filters.

Good luck!

[davejnz]

My second reef tank had a shallow sand bed with Carib-Sea aragonite blend.I'm not sure if the kind you want is the same grain size or not.Mine was coarser grained compared to the fine grained sands like southdown sand/beach sand).A coarser grain is idea for a shallow bed IMO.Your CC sand bed appears to be shallow(>2"),I'd just siphon the CC out during WC's removing a section at a time.Should take about 6-7 waterchanges to get it all out.Don't worry about getting it all out,in fact,I'd leave a 1/4" of it in place.Then i'd just add the well rinsed Carib Sea sand to 1 big cup(64oz fountain drink cup would work well) at a time.Leave the lid on,submerge it into the tank,turn the cup over so it sits on the bottom and remove the lid.Allow the sand to fall out gradually by only picking the cup an 1" or so and moving the cup around.You want it to fall out in small mounds,Don't disturb the sand mounds!Repeat the process until you've added all the sand.It'll look a bit odd with all of those sand mounds but its best to let them level out gradually so you dont cloud up your water too much. After a couple days,you can use a credit card or something flat to level it out.