Sand Bed Depth

pokerfish

pokerfish

daily puffer
I am in the process of getting my tank going again...I have made many mistakes in the past (as i have learned via this forum) and am trying to get it right, with your help. My 55 gallon has about 70 pounds of live rock ( i am adding a little more every week or so until i get to around 100+) My tank is cycled and I have 2 oscellaris clowns and just added 1 turbo snail and 4 small crabs as a beginning CUC. I realize crew needs to be much larger but I will increase numbers gradually as tank matures...my question is about my sand bed... I only have about a half an inch of fine sand in bed...do I need more? I have a good protien skimmer, am about to convert my aquaclear 500 to a mini fuge (thanks to post by sunny) and the aforementioned live rock...if I do need more, how do I go about adding it in......i guess I should say that my goal is to keep a tank with reef fish and some soft corals to start......
 
If you want to add some more sand here's a video I made on how to do it.

Make sure your rinse the sand thoroughly and put a little in at a time.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=20C0VGEaEM4&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL]YouTube - Putting Sand in an existing tank.[/ame]
 
Thats very helpful, and your rock and tank look awesome! That answers the second part of my question...but do you think i need more sand?
 
Cool, thanks...with less sand should I tone down the size of my CUC...the premade packs on liveaquaria have like 50 snails...I'm thinkin thats for a deeper sandbed.....?
 
People normally have 1 inch deep, i have about 2. Its all preference, but the deeper it is the less gets stirred and more detritus and nitrates build up.
 
I think a sand bed is very important because it can hold a great deal of beneficial bacteria. As a matter of fact almost all the beneficial bacteria is in the sand and rock! This is why a 50% water change will not cause a cycle.

The problem with sand beds is that there has never been any perfect way to keep it from collecting too much detritus over time. Some people have stirred up old sand beds and started a deadly tank-killing cycle. I would do no more than 2 inches. Also there is no rule that says you can't have the sand bed deeper in some places.
 
I have an idea. I mean this is what I may do.

In like 2 years if I still have the tank I will take all the fish out and then clear it all out and put new sand in it. Just kidding but maybe that would be better.

Have 2 tanks and just swap every 2-3 years with new sand.

I just feel like every tank in a ticking time bomb. I have like 3 inches of crushed coral but the bottom 2 inches or more if fine ocean floor sand. You can see under the tank(my stand is open) the sand is fine.
 
phastroh said:
I have an idea. I mean this is what I may do.

In like 2 years if I still have the tank I will take all the fish out and then clear it all out and put new sand in it. Just kidding but maybe that would be better.

Have 2 tanks and just swap every 2-3 years with new sand.

I just feel like every tank in a ticking time bomb. I have like 3 inches of crushed coral but the bottom 2 inches or more if fine ocean floor sand. You can see under the tank(my stand is open) the sand is fine.
Click to expand...

My tank is over 2 years old and I am thinking about rebuilding too.
 
There's threads on RC of tanks that are 10 years old or more and I don't think they replace their sand. I would think at 2 years everything is just getting nice and mature.
 
True but man there is enough to make you worried out there. I would think 2 years isn't too old but still. I guess if you have a big setup with a lot of stuff it would be a pain.
 

Similar threads

Mike
  • Sticky
Feature Requests - Suggestions Needed
Replies
1
Views
801
Mike
Mike
F
New to marine.
Replies
2
Views
2K
kbuser92
kbuser92
Mike
  • Sticky
New Member (Owner 😲)
Replies
0
Views
769
Mike
Mike
L
New Member
Replies
0
Views
1K
lkt1954
L
Mike
We're Back!
Replies
0
Views
797
Mike
Mike
Back
Top