how hard is it to switch substrate - -or mix it ? I have 20lbs of crushed coral in there now, about an inch deep - -could I add a 20 lb bag of live sand and just mix it up?

am i going to start another cycle? am i correct in saying that the bio load is being supported by the matierials in the substarte somewhat?

I just finished a major cleaning and water change inbetween these posts..... I set up a ten gallon tank yesterday and let the salt water "cure" over night, pulled out the live rock and decorations i have in the tank and put them in the "change tank" then I put the 2 Dams in there and totaly cleaned the main tank -I leaft one of the filters untouched {it was cleaned 2 weeks ago} compleately cleaned the other one, the intake sponge on the power head and added a canister type pre filter on the other power head, changed the carbon bag in the HOT filter and rolled the substrate over and over until the dark brown crap was pretty much gone and run through the filters - - then refilled the tank and put everything and the fishies back in - -it is really cleaning up nicely now as the filters put the finish on it - I know some people {PIMP,lol} don't like to hear the words, "big water change" and I don't really like to do them either, but, this one was much needed - - I was pleased to see little critters in there so I didn't remove the substrate and "wash" it - like i stated, I just rolled it around to stir up the gunk I have gotten in there from the over feeding learning curve.


The next tank will be sand, and it will run for a minimum of 2 months before any live stock is added - -as much as it pains me to lose fish I am enjoying this learning curve on the small tank and figure if i can master a little rig - - the big one will be a cake walk..... easier to stay on top of suttle changes compared to catostrophic changes that occur in a small one

vigorously stirring substrate will probably raise the nitrates in the tank. a few sections should be siphoned at a time