more sand

Depends how you added it.
If the new sand is siting on top of the existing LS then it smothered the life, so, Yes there will be a pollution problem.
Would you like to know the best way to add sand? Push everything aside and add the new stuff all in one place or underneath the older sand.
Do you know how to handle this so the pollution gets eaten up right away? Turn on the lights 24 hours/day so the algae can eat up the pollution.
In a reef tank with good life, it can clear up in less than an hour, if the sand was rinsed first.

In the future, please feel free to use this message board to ask questions to avoid problems before taking an action.
You will find that we take the time to explain and instruct in the details that an LFS can't do.


Edited by Mark Peterson - December 06 2010 at 8:25am

It was just dead sand right? Not a bag of live sand?

I really wouldn't expect any type of cycle or anything to happen unless it was live sand that had been sitting in a bucket somewhere or out of those store bought live sand bags.

Nah, by now you're pretty much into it if it's going to start cycling. Just kick up the skimmer, do a water change and hang some carbon. Your tank should be able to ride it out if you are careful.

i will do a water change today, add some carbon and try to not stress the fish they seem healthy but you never know i test my water yesterday and i was kind of scare i had like 10 nitrates 0 ammonia and 0 nitrites ph is right up there at 8.8 and i had really being lazzy this last two weeks about dosing everything i will also add some bacteria supplement to speed things up and then i guess i will have to make a trip to fish 4 u to test my water 

Nitrates at 10 ppm is great. Leave it alone and do not vacuum the sand. If you see a little extra algae growing over the next 3-7 days, don't worry. That's normal. Leaving the lights on for more hours will shorten that effect.
It's all about helping the tank to eat up the added pollution. The sand had bacteria in it though it had a lot of dead bacteria in it too. This is where the extra pollution comes from. Make sense?

whats your Alk levels?

Alk is much more important than pH. If Alk is maintained at correct levels pH will follow. The relationship between Ca and Alk is one most important (if not the most important) parameters you need to maintain in a reef aquarium. Another thing to keep in mind. The "live" sand in bags isn't very lively at all. You would be better off buying a bag of dead sand and seeding it with a cup or two from someone else's tank.

Unfortunately not. Alk is the carbonate hardness and buffering capacity of the water (i.e. dissolved carbonates). pH is the concentration of Hydrogen Ions in the water (acidity).