Change substrates

I am thinking of changing my substrate from crushed coral to sand (this is what I have in mind http://www.jlaquatics.com/cgi-bin/sh...gno=cs-amaxs30 ).

My question is this: Do I make the change all at once? Do I do it in stages.

I have read up on this and some say go all the way, others say do it piecemeal. My specs are:

72 gal
50 lbs LR
yellow tang
coral beauty
spotted wrasse
nemo
watchman
2 cleaner
2 peppermint
pineapple coral
some xenia
It's been up for about 15 months

I was thinking of getting a rubbermaid container and draining my tank into it and putting everyone in there with my heater and some circulation while I do it. I would also add about 50% new water after.

Will removing my present substrate remove too much beneficial bacteria? I really want to get rid of my CC because It doesn't process nitrates enough and I don't want problems down the road.

Any help or advice on this would be appreciated.

Thanks

[JOER0178]

IVE NEVER DONE IT BUT EVERY TIME SOMEONE MENTIONS IT PEOPLE FAR MORE EXPERIENCED THEN I SAY DO IT IN STAGES AND GIVE SOME TIME INBETWEEN STAGES

[Craig Manoukian]

[quote author=fishguy link=board=General;num=1081867396;start=0#0 date=04/13/04 at 07:43:15]Will removing my present substrate remove too much beneficial bacteria? [/quote]

Yes.

A 50% water change is only for emegencies. Change your substrate in thirds and you won't have to drain your tank. You can use a wet live sand and using the bag as a pastry decorator, put the new sand right where you want it with minimal clouding.

[fishguy]

Thanks for the advice. I wasn't looking forward to pulling all my critters out of their home. I don't think they would mind a bit of rearranging.

I like the idea for putting the new in so as not to cloud the water, any ideas on how to get the old stuff out without clouding the water?

Also, the link I put in there, is that material any good? Is there something else that you would recomend? I have attached a pic showing what I have. You can see it's very coarse for the most part, that's why the change.

BTW, excellent info on the forums here, you can never read enough on this stuff

Thanks again

[JOER0178]

GOOD LUCK I DONT ENVY THE TASK BUT IM SURE IT IS WORTH IT. OH AND WELCOME TO 3REEF

[acropora]

One way would be to remove the substrate in small amounts at a time during water changes.You can use a larger diameter hose and siphon out the C.C. with your water. The usual 10-15% water change will do fine. You can do this once a week until it is all gone. This will be the least disruptive method.
A more aggressive way,but effective, would be to plumb a sump that is 75 gallons into your present system.You can add water to this temporary sump over a couple of weeks and now you effectively have 150gals+ in your entire system.Now you can disconnect the plumbing and add your corals,etc, to this sump while you clean out the main tank.You can also place some of the water from the main tank in a bucket and use this to shake off detritus from your L.R. prior to placing it into the temporary sump.When you are done,just return the livestock and water from the temporary sump to your main tank. I recently did this to remove a DSB that was running for 6 years on a 220 Tank.

[Craig Manoukian]

Awesome suggestion Anthony!