# Small Problem



## karaim (Aug 28, 2008)

I have a small problem.

Yesterday I bought 2 fish and about 10 inverts to add to my new 125 gallon reef tank (just finished cycling). However, I did not have sand yet (although I did have 240 pounds of live rock). So I bought sand at the LFS along with the 2 fish and 10 inverts (a couple of snails, and a couple of crabs, and a cleaner shrimp).

When I got home, I emptied the 50 pounds of sand that I got into a bucket to clean it. However, I bought 10 packs of 5 sand, and as it turned out there were 5 white bags and 5 pinkish gray bags. Not only that, the white sand was TINY, and the pinkish gray sand was large, and once I mixed them together, it looked pretty ugly.

Herein lies my problem: I didn't add the sand because it was too ugly when mixed together (I noticed the sand was different after mixing ti). But I did add the inverts and the fish to the fish tank (because it would take me too long to drive back to the LFS to buy the correct sand, and I didn't want to risk the fish and inverts dying). I have 2 questions:

1) How can I add sand to a tank where I already have fish and inverts? I am pretty sure I can avoid hitting the fish, but I am not sure about the inverts (especially in the back of the tank where I can't see anything). Will the inverts find their way out of the sand if I accidentally cover them with the sand?

2) Can I use the sand I bought yesterday for my deep sand bed in my refugium? Does it matter that the sand grains are tiny?

Thanks


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## 1077 (Apr 16, 2008)

I know next to nothing about saltwater tanks but have had some expierience with sand. You could try placing the sand in a freezer bag and then gently lower near the bottom of the tank and empty it slowly. This also helps minimize clouding somewhat. Hope this helps a little.;-)


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