Changing my Substrate. I need your opinions.

sounds like you did everything very well. I would recommend getting some prime and dose it just to help in case of a spike. Also, ask you LFS if you can have a scoop or two of live sand from their display..this will help populate your sand bed quicker. Your tank is going to be so much better without the undergravel filter and the gravel (that is why your nitrates were rising!)
good luck

 

Sounds like a job well done . many of us have done 100% gravel changes with little ill effect and you have taken every step to insure a smooth transition! have a beer its the weekend!

 

I have been following along since this is of great interest to me.

You are basically performing the reef tank equivalent of the old "yank the tablecloth off the table without breaking the dishes" trick!

Ta-DA!

Definitely toss a pic or two up of the finished job!

 

LOL!

Tablecloth trick or not, my rock is still all piled up in the DT. I'll mess with it today and I'll follow Steve's advice. I won't use epoxy for the rock, but I will have to get a hammer and chisel since some of these rocks are simply too big to fit comfortably in the DT. And I don't really want to pile them up like I used to have them. I want to look at it and feel very well about it.

Now I need to finish the sump. I was in a rush to change the UG filter and gravel because I needed the 30 gal storage capacity for the transition. Now it's free for sump building!!!!

Super excited about it.

Reef sand looks so much better than the gravel. With my T5 the sand has different shade layers... it looks just clean, and awesome. I've noticed that it shifter during the nights, probably because of my powerheads moving the water there.

All the snails and crabs I added to the tank yesterday are still doing great today and my Amonia is still at 0. I'll watch this closely.

I thank everyone for their help and advice. I will keep you posted, and when I'm done I will take pictures... kind of like a Before and After scenario.

- Magnus.