takeing sand out?

I would honestly get a stock tank and transfer everything into. But I would say the best way to do the rock is let it dry out and kill everything then power wash it, then cook it. Hopefully Gered chimes in, he was telling me about some new stuff that he saw at MACNA that was for putting rock work together that was like a mortar.

 

+1 on drying it out then cooking it. Just cooking it wont kill the GSP or xenia.

 

Marco rocks has some really cool dry rock that they cut flat on one side that can be siliconed to the back glass, I think this would look pretty sweet in your 180 Brian. Also, the mortar Matt was talking about can also be found on Marco Rocks. You'll find both of these products on their home page.

http://www.marcorocks.com/

 

I think that is mostly if you have a dsp in your tank. not exactly sure if its a shallow sand bed of a inch or so.

 

you could also take out a cup of sand and set it aside, wash all the rest before putting it in a new tank, and seed it with the cup of activated sand.

 

Might want to watch the Calfo talk from FF before you decide.....

Personally, I hate the look of no sand. I understand it blows around with lots of flow, but I would try and keep some in for looks and also, it does add biodiversity to your tank. If you must take it out of the display, keep it in the system somewhere (sump) so you don't lose all the creatures that inhabit the sand. Same thinking goes for the rock. I would rather keep all the helpful critters that inhabit the rock, then kill everything living creature on the rock. If you don't like the anthelia or whatever coral is not what you want, I'd work at eliminating that with kalk paste etc. Yes, more of a pita than just nuking all your rock maybe and starting over, but you keep all the beneficial stuff that builds up over time. Just my two cents /DesktopModules/ActiveForums/themes/_default//emoticons/smile.gif

 

Posted By phishcrazee on 11/13/2010 11:33 AM 
Personally, I hate the look of no sand. I understand it blows around with lots of flow, but I would try and keep some in for looks and also, it does add biodiversity to your tank. If you must take it out of the display, keep it in the system somewhere (sump) so you don't lose all the creatures that inhabit the sand. Same thinking goes for the rock. I would rather keep all the helpful critters that inhabit the rock, then kill everything living creature on the rock. If you don't like the anthelia or whatever coral is not what you want, I'd work at eliminating that with kalk paste etc. Yes, more of a pita than just nuking all your rock maybe and starting over, but you keep all the beneficial stuff that builds up over time. Just my two cents /DesktopModules/ActiveForums/themes/_default//emoticons/smile.gif Ditto...Ditto...Ditto
I doubt we know how much diversity is in our sand and how much it benefits our tanks.  We get rock, frags, etc from many different places and each brings with it a little something different.  If you don't want it in the display then the sump is a good option too.
I've never really understood why people would buy live rock and then nuke it or let it dry out...there is far more good than bad in live rock.  If there is a problem on an individual rock, just take that one out and treat it however you need to.  JMO

 

When I assembled my rock work, I used large zip ties. They were easier to use than glue or pegs. Yeah, at first you see the occasional strap, but it turns out those are way handy for sticking frags under. I don't expect to be able to see mine for much longer.

You can also pull off weird stuff like a rock floating down from an arch.....one zip tie on the arch, one on a rock you hang into the arch....

 

Oh yeah; silicon caulk doesn't work very well to stick rockwork together. Worked great for sticking slabs to my overflow, but rock to rock it usually just flaked off.