Adding new sand to an aquarium

[TankedUp]

Me sand substrate is getting thin from years of water changes. Instead of stripping my tank and changing all of my substrate I opted to simply add some new. I spoke with my fish dealer and he said it would be better than risking a tank crash. My question is do I keep the dirty substrate separate or just add the new over the top? My tank is planted.

[Dawn T]

Just add in what you need. No need to remove old stuff. You can just add new on top of the old. Just be aware it might make the tank cloudy if the sand is dusty. It should settle fine though.

[TankedUp]

Should I be concerned with trapping fish waste under the new sand or will it be ok? I plan to add  in the new sand wet with a cup at the bottom to minimize the cloudiness

[JettsPapa]

8 hours ago, TankedUp said:

Should I be concerned with trapping fish waste under the new sand or will it be ok? I plan to add  in the new sand wet with a cup at the bottom to minimize the cloudiness

You could do a substrate vac before adding the new sand, but I doubt it's necessary.  Or if you have Malaysian trumpet snails I wouldn't worry about it at all.