# Installing CaribSea Eco-complete Cichlid Sand



## Duke79 (Jul 16, 2010)

I've done some research in this forum and on the CaribSea web site but cannot find an explanation of the best way to install Eco-complete Cichlid Sand into an aquarium.

I plan to install an egg crate just for rock stability. I will put in the egg crate and put my base rocks in place so the base rocks will not be sitting on top of the sand. But then I'm not sure how to install the sand. I am concerned about the bacteria in the Eco-complete surviving the next step of the installation the water and sand. I assume I need to have the water treated with a water conditioner before the sand/bacteria comes into contact with the water.

So do I need to have the tank filled with water that has been treated with a water conditioner and then "drop" the sand in?

Or do I fill the tank partially with water, treat that water with water conditioner, and then put the sand in ... and then add enough water conditioner to treat the full tank and add the rest of the water?

This may be a noob question, but I want to do it right.


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## Liam_Doherty (Sep 8, 2009)

First off be sure to rinse your sand to get rid of all the dust and dirt. I use the same sand and when I bought it I was a noob to sand and figured that since it was a sand made for aquarums it would be already rinsed. I was wrong.

As for the other questions, put your eggcrate in first, then your base rocks. You should be safe to then put the sand in before the water. Once the sand is in, fill it almost full with water. Then go ahead and put the rest of your rocks in. Once all your rocks are in place, top the water up and then treat it.

Now there's no set way to do these steps, but that's how I did them, and everything works great. Best of luck.


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## soulpride (Aug 30, 2009)

i would put the egg crate in, base rock, sand then the water. i treat the water last. but please fill the water half way first the added rock will rise the water level. you can always use old filter media from exiting tank and some gravel or sand to boost up your bacteria.


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## Hawks (Feb 7, 2008)

I could not disagree with Liam Doherty more.

The Eco-Complete sand comes with bacteria in the bag...thus why you pay an arm and a leg for the stuff in the first place. If you rinse the sand you will destroy all the bacteria in the bag/sand. This would kind of defeat the purpose of buying the stuff in the first place assuming you wanted the bacteria to help kick start your cycle.

I would put the eggcrate in the tank, put the rock where you want it, then the sand right out of the bag with the water that's in the bags and then add the rest of the water. Your tank will be very cloudy for a couple of days from the sand. Run your filters and it will be good in a couple of days.

I'm not sure if you use a python for water changes or use buckets. If you use buckets you can treat the new water in each bucket before you add it to the tank. I have many large tanks and purchased a 75 gallon trash can that I put tap water in and treat then use a water pump to pump the treated water to each of my tanks.


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## Duke79 (Jul 16, 2010)

Thank you for your post Hawks.

I decided to do something very similar to your suggestion. I put in the eggcrate, followed by the base rocks, and put about 20% of the water in the tank (treated). Then I added the sand without washing it as instructed on the bag of sand. I added enough water treatment for the rest of the water and then added it using a hose.

The tank was cloudy for about a day and then cleared right up. I did some work with a python to clean some of the dust off of the rocks so it wouldn't cloud up the tank again, but that was about all I had to do.


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