Sand

margaritaville

Reefing newb
I was going to go with a bare bottom on my 220 but now thinking I wont like the way it looks. Can I go with like 100 lbs or is that defeating the purpose?
 
You don't need to have a DSB in your tank. Their merits are still being debated, although it seems that most people side with pro DSB. It's up to you, if it's purely for aesthetic reasons then I think that just a little sand would be fine. Just keep in mind that you may not be able to keep animals that burrow or live in it.
 
the only reason you would want it deep are for the burrowing fish, corals and anemones thats about it otherwise you could end up with a heap of trouble hope this helps.
 
Go deep or shallow,the choice is yours.I like a couple inches,it just looks better to me.I notice that coralline grew much faster with a DSB when I use to run it,.but maybe that was just me.
 
Id shoot for 1 1/2 to 2" of sand,that way you shouldnt have to worry about glass showing in places unless you have a ton of flow.
 
I guess the biggest reason I dont want to to a DSB is the cost first of all, and I have a habit of always trying to keep my sand clean and I dont want to accidentally release a gas pocket and wipe out my tank. But I guess even 2" is gonna be close to 200 bucks!
 
Use enough dry aragonite sand to get your depth then seed that with one or 2 bags live sand.
Save yourself a few bucks that way.
 
where are you buying sand that 2" is going to be $200? there isn't really that much of a debate anymore about DSB. bottom line is that they house tons of microfauna that will eat detritus and extra food that will fall onto the bottom of the tank. if you do decide to go BB or SSB be sure that you either go light on stocking and feeding. Also be sure to have good flow and a BIG skimmer so that you can keep particulate matter in the water column and pull it out with the skimmer. It really shouldn't take more than like 7 bags of sand to get a 4" bed in a 220 with the standard footprint of 72 x 24. just use dry sand and seed it with a couple of cups of sand from an established tank.
 
Thats how I done my 55.I put the dry in first then the live.
The way I rinsed mine was using a big mixing bowl,I filled the bowl about a half to 3/4 full and let water from the outside fosset run through it untill the run off water was clear.After I got each bowl full rinsed I used my wifes hair dryer and dryed the sand out while stirring it.After it was fairly dry I slowly poured it into the tank.
It clouded the water for about a day,but that went away pretty quick.After the water cleared back up I laid the bag of live sand on top of the dry and cut the top off the bag and slowly worked it out.
It took me about 2 1/2 to 3 hours to do it that way,But it was worth it.
 
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