[Kenk12]

I have a 60 gallon established tank and I was wondering if I could add additional sand to it? I have live rock, corals, and fish. Specifically, I wanted to and a little bit more of the live sand. The reason I want to add more live sand is because I want to increase the size of the sand bed. Additionally, if it is ok to add more sand now, what is the best way to do this to an establish tank? Just dumping it in there would most likely make a cloudy mess. Suggestions or comments regarding this would be helpful! Thanks in advanced!

[dhboyd1]

Can you move all your livestock to a QT tank while the sand settles? It's going to get pretty thick in the water while you add it and it may cause problems with breathing for the fish. I added more sand after 3 weeks with my tank and it took about 4 hours for the water to clear. I put a hang on filter to help my canister filter clear the water. Your bio's may be out of whack for a short period but should settle down pretty quickly. Good luck and hopefully you will hear from others here that have more experience.

[poochi487]

i dont have any experiance in this but if its not a lot of sand you could maybe use like a tube or a funnel of some sort and pour the sand down that and put the sand where u want and i dont think it would make a big mess cause its goin right down to the bottom in a controlled way ...i dunno how it will work just thought id throw that idea out there!

[jimw369]

Rinse your sand out first then use whatever technique you think will disturb the water the least. I would use RO water for rinsing.

[dhboyd1]

If you aren't going to QT your fish then do a water change and use water from your tank to wash sand, add sand, let settle a while then add new saltwater to tank.