Sand question

mikelush78

mikelush78

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Jun 30, 2006
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I am going to be filling my 90 gallon tank that I have been building for the past 5 months and was wondering how big of a sand bed I should have. I plan on having a normal reef tank I guess you would say. I have a 20GL long tank for my sump and a 10 gallon refugium. I am guessing I would want like 2" of sand but not sure. and how much sand that would be I have no clue. I am going to get mostly live sand if I can. Any ideas?
 
i would suggest about 1 to 1.5 inch in the display tank, and a deep bed of about 4 to 6 inches in the sump / fuge..

I would also just use normal play sand, far cheaper, and just geta small ammount of live sand from a fellow reefer..

Niko
 
Ha ha ha...the method of using play sand, and seeding from a existing tank works very well indeed, and no, it does not take that long at all..besides, whats the rush..The last thing anybody wants to be doing in an aquarium is rush things, that is when things can go wrong..Explain your reasoning for the sand bed depth in the display tank please Weenee..It must be different in the states than what everyone tends to go for here in the UK..Its either a DSB in the display, or about an inch or so with DSB in the fuge...

Miracle mud is personal preference, am still yet to see actual proof that it is better than a DSB in the fuge..
 
Mikelush78,
the answer to your question is...
25lbs of sand for a 2" deep bed in 20L
20lbs of sand for a 3-4" bed in the sump.
75-100lbs of mixed grain sizes for the 90G will give about 2" bed.

I have used Miracle mud and other mud products and I believe that there is more worms,critters,etc. in the bed with the use of the product. Personal experience.

I would recommend sand from other peoples systems that you trust because it will be truly "LIVE SAND". Bacteria is great in a store bought product, however the micro fauna of an established tank is better. Many hobbyist will take a 25 lbs bag of sand and swap live sand with you. Check your local reef club and talk to your LFS about this.

LMK, if you have any other questions.
 
I have gone back and forth on this topic for years. And I think I am about to sway back to a shallow Sand Bed 1-1.5 inches at most from my 4 Inch DSB that I have. I think the DSB is great for the first year or two but I am starting to think it is not the right long term solution. What does everyone else think?




Mr.Firemouth said:
Mikelush78,
the answer to your question is...
25lbs of sand for a 2" deep bed in 20L
20lbs of sand for a 3-4" bed in the sump.
75-100lbs of mixed grain sizes for the 90G will give about 2" bed.

I have used Miracle mud and other mud products and I believe that there is more worms,critters,etc. in the bed with the use of the product. Personal experience.

I would recommend sand from other peoples systems that you trust because it will be truly "LIVE SAND". Bacteria is great in a store bought product, however the micro fauna of an established tank is better. Many hobbyist will take a 25 lbs bag of sand and swap live sand with you. Check your local reef club and talk to your LFS about this.

LMK, if you have any other questions.
Click to expand...
 
Well, I also have mixed feelings on dsb's . I think that they aren't so great if you have a tank centered around fish. They tend to leach phosphates etc. after a couple of years in set ups like that. In tanks that are heavy on inverts and light on fish it's the other way around. I'd go for a dsb everytime and wouldn't expect any issues. It just depends on what you're trying to do IME.
Cheers
Max
 
So Max ... if your tank is a mix of a reef and fish (with sufficient inverts), not strictly one way or the other, what would you recommend (as a personal opinion)? A DSB or a regular SB?

Cheers!
Yash
 
Regular, because people usually keep adding fish. I think that if you want a mostly invert tank it needs to be very lightly stocked for a lot of reasons like disease, bio load etc. I just like to have some wiggle room.
 
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