How much sand..??

[fishmom]

Will be soon taking on the daunting task of scooping out the nasty crushed coral and replacing with lovely, new fresh sand.
Question:
1) What "kind" of sand--I ask this because I have heard many folks refer to "sand" by many, many different names......going to the LFS this week and need to know "what to ask for"...is there a name of a "sand" that is better suited.....would work better......
2) How much sand for a 55 gallon tank....
3) How do I "rinse" the sand....?
Thanks-- ~debi~

 

[Smitty]

I'd recommend 1" of sand or 1lbs per gal...also, get the dry sand, your rocks will make it live, and you'll save a few $

 

[Bifferwine]

Make sure it's aragonite sand. There are different grain sizes or aragonite. The grain size you choose is up to you.

 

[wontonflip]

I rinsed my sand a lot in tap water out back....did a LOT of rinsing for my 125g. If anything, it exfoliated my hands :D I filled a tub w/ water, stirred the sand, drained...repeated this many times. In the end I drained as much as possible, then added it to my tank. It still clouded up, but it didn't last long.

You can rinse w/ rodi, too, if you want to be extra cautious. That would've used up a lot of rodi for me.

 

[reeffreak]

+ Biff.

If it doesn't say aragonite on the front.Look somewhere on the package.

Look for around 55lbs to make around a 1''' sandbed.Most people run shallow sandbed between 1/2''-2'' depending on personal choice.

 

[fishmom]

+ Biff.


Look for around 55lbs to make around a 1''' sandbed.Most people run shallow sandbed between 1/2''-2'' depending on personal choice.

What would be the difference in "shallow sand bed" vs (I assume) a deeper sand bed? Would it be for apperance only? Or would a deeper sand bed be of some benefit?

Would love to hear preferences and reasons.....

 

[bjohanson1234]

In order for a deep sand bed to have any effectiveness in the denitrification process, it needs to be atleast 6" deep. That is alot of sand. They also have the drawback of releasing toxic sulfer gas and detrius that can kill your tank off if it gets stirred up.

 

[Bifferwine]

BJ is right. Anything about 2" or so can trap detritus and gases and be difficult to clean. This can hurt your water quality. 6" or more of sand (a deep sand bed) will take up a ton of space in your tank and not look good.

For the ease of keeping it clean and keeping water quality good, I keep my sandbed less than 1" deep. If you plan on getting a burrowing fish like a goby, then you may want to get 2" or so. But I wouldn't get any more than that.

 

[reeffreak]

BJ and Biff answer answered your question.

There are a some reefers who run a DSB.Personally for me,they take up too much space in the diplay plus the danger BJ mentioned.I run a DSB in my refugium where there are no animals that can disturb the bed.