Adding sand to existing substrate

wide bore tubing
thats how I used to remove gravel from freshwater tanks
problem is your going to get a lot of water in addition to the CC

so doing it at weekly water change time so that you have water in reserve to replace what it taken would be ideal IMO

Steve

 

+1 on this

I would probably do it in 1 go, but it does mean emptying the tank, leaving the last inch or so of water, throwing that and the CC away
re setting tank up, and then adding new sand



Steve

 

i agree, that probably is the best way to go. i'm doing it only for aesthetic purposes. my parms since adding my sump/fuge are perfect. i'm also looking to upgrade to a 90 gal or larger in about a year. but it might be a fun weekend project. with the way i have set up my tank i have very little exposed subsrtrate, maybe 25% of the tank max. so in a way doing a partial change probably makes more sense