Sand bed question

lbear

lbear

AC Members
Sep 14, 2005
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Bay area, California
After reading many articles and threads on the net, I am getting more and more confused about sand bed.

Will a FOWLR tank need deep sand bed? Or depends on the bio-load of the tank? What's the depth of sand bed is deep enough? If there is a refugium with about 10% volume of main tank, is DSB in refugium good enough?

How to start seeding DSB?

Thanks!
 
Depends on what you want from it. I like sand beds deep enough to promote nitrate reduction, and host a variety of detrivores. But, if you're going to have digging fish, a DSB in the main tank isn't feasible, so putting it in the fuge would work--there just won't be as much nitrate reduction from it. Sand beds are not required--they are one option that happens to be pretty effective and easy to maintain once established.

Seeding is easy--get some quality live rock, or purchase a sand bed activator kit.
 
You could also go with no sandbed (bare-bottom). Most people put plastic cuttingboard on the bottom to prevent scratches and broken glass from rock falls. If you go this route, you will also need a heavy duty skimmer,50X turnover rate, and a good amount of live rock. The whole idea is to keep the tank from starting the cycling process by removing waste ahead of time.

www.thecuttingboardfactory.com

Kim
 
OrionGirl said:
Depends on what you want from it. I like sand beds deep enough to promote nitrate reduction, and host a variety of detrivores.
Click to expand...

The primary purpose for me of having DSB is nitrate reduction. The "do not stir" thing really bothers me. If the DSB is eay to establish, I'd rather not having those sand sifters.

But, if you're going to have digging fish, a DSB in the main tank isn't feasible, so putting it in the fuge would work--there just won't be as much nitrate reduction from it.
Click to expand...

This sounds a good solution for me. My tank is 90 gal BF. The refugium is about 9 gal. Is the fuge large enough? Due to space constraint under my bow front cabinet, I have a 29 gal tank partitioned to sump and fuge.

Sand beds are not required--they are one option that happens to be pretty effective and easy to maintain once established.
Click to expand...

I am afraid the DSB won't establish. Still can not make decision.
 
LittlePuff said:
You could also go with no sandbed (bare-bottom).
Click to expand...

Thanks for your suggestion. But I have bought 60 lbs of Aragonite and 20 lbs of Fiji pink. I think I want to use them.

Is 1" 1.25–1.95 mm diameter grain size sand good for sand sifters such as goby? Is it easy to maintain by regular siphoning the sand bed?
 
I stir some of my sand once a month while siphoning out the dirt during a water change. I have a remote DSB in my sump, 4-5”, but honestly I think the skimmer is the reason that I can hit 0 nitrates.
 
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