How thick of a sand bed should I have?

[Royalty]

I have a 72 bowfront that I just finished aquascaping but I notice that I might have gone a bit over board? it's about 4 1/2 inch thick mixed with crushed coral very fine sand and a bit of black sand to give a a different look Ill but a pic so you can see what mean? It might cause some problems down the road when it comes time for cleaning? p.s I tried leaving 2 inch space between the rock and the back glass. but I couldn't get the live rock to work with me what would be the best way to give me the look I want and the space I need without using a glue of some short I don't want them to stay that way forever ?

 

[Technorch]

I put about 4" of sanbed but thanks to my jawfish, the middle of the tank has about 2" and "his" corner has about 5"-6" of sanbed...

I heard bad stuff about having crushed coral since they might trap detrius. I opted to not go this route and just have a sanbed instead

 

[Royalty]

Here's a pic' of what my tank looks like know! Its a bit foggy but It will clear up by morning. I have a cheap camra to so it is what it is!

Here a close up of the sand bed. It doesnt have that much crush coral in it but idk? maybe when I get my snowflake eel he'll enjoy the 4 inch of sand bed. P.S what the best way to get ride of the sticky glue stuff from my tank? (left side panel from the last pic'?)

 

[JohnK]

Yea, I would have to agree, get the crushed coral out now. It will be a PITA and there is nothing you can do to keep it from mixing in with the finer sand.

Also FWIW, sand isn't so popular in the hobby as it was a few yrs ago. Not that a reef tank can no longer be run with a sandbed, (obviously that would be a silly statement), but newer approaches such as remote sand bed filters and carbon dosing have made DSBs less appealing. Also, sand beds do seem IME to have the potential to become nutrient sinks. Not saying that the DSB approach is "dead", but it's fallen out of favor with ME

 

[nichols]

I have a 72 bowfront that I just finished aquascaping but I notice that I might have gone a bit over board? it's about 4 1/2 inch thick mixed with crushed coral very fine sand and a bit of black sand to give a a different look Ill but a pic so you can see what mean? It might cause some problems down the road when it comes time for cleaning? p.s I tried leaving 2 inch space between the rock and the back glass. but I couldn't get the live rock to work with me what would be the best way to give me the look I want and the space I need without using a glue of some short I don't want them to stay that way forever ?

I'd remove the crushed coral. It will become a detris trap, causing nutrient issues, like unwanted algae growth and elevated nitrate levels. Much better off with a sugar grain size sand.
For your rock you could drill holes in the rock and insert acrylic rods to hold the rocks in place. Some people even use zip ties.

 

[pillowfish]

Like the rock work, looking good! If I may, I would caution against using "crushed coral" if it is crushed aragonite, or however they are labeling these days. They do tend to hold and trap detritus and cause problems further along down the line with nitrates. As for cleaning the sandbed, IMHO, don't do it. You will ultimately end up with huge spikes in nitrates, it is biological filtration and the less you fiddle with things the better off you will be in the end(if that is what you meant by cleaning).

 

[Royalty]

that sucks I just did the aquascaping today I thought I was good to go the problem is that all most 45% of the sand bed is mix with the crush coral Im just going to have to wait until friday when I get paid to get some live sand. I kinda knew this was going to happen I just wanted my tank up and runing o we'll at least know I could get those acrylic rods and try rebuild my live rock I do need one big peace for the far left side it seems empty to me. p.s hi jimmy what did you mean by (DSB,IME,FWIW) forgive me for not understanding? I did how ever understoud what you meant by PITA -"Pain- In- The- a**". .Haha

 

[Royalty]

Like the rock work, looking good! If I may, I would caution against using "crushed coral" if it is crushed aragonite, or however they are labeling these days. They do tend to hold and trap detritus and cause problems further along down the line with nitrates. As for cleaning the sandbed, IMHO, don't do it. You will ultimately end up with huge spikes in nitrates, it is biological filtration and the less you fiddle with things the better off you will be in the end(if that is what you meant by cleaning).

hi pillowfish,
how you been? I kinda knew i was a bad idea but I thought with the 100 pounds of sand I added. That It won't hurt to add crush coral plus the half a bag was free I can't go wrong with free..lol

 

[JohnK]

Haha

IME = in my experience
FWIW = for what it's worth
DSB = Deep sand bed

also (I use these ones a lot as well)
IIRC = if I recall correctly
IMO = in my opinion

 

[Royalty]

Yea, I would have to agree, get the crushed coral out now. It will be a PITA and there is nothing you can do to keep it from mixing in with the finer sand.

Also FWIW, sand isn't so popular in the hobby as it was a few yrs ago. Not that a reef tank can no longer be run with a sandbed, (obviously that would be a silly statement), but newer approaches such as remote sand bed filters and carbon dosing have made DSBs less appealing. Also, sand beds do seem IME to have the potential to become nutrient sinks. Not saying that the DSB approach is "dead", but it's fallen out of favor with ME

I was just about to pm you. I'm heading down to NH to get three sumps fromm bruno but one seems to be missing the top part I was wonder if I could ask you a few question one how I should build a acrylic sump for my 46 bowfront just pick up? I have about 33x11x18 inch to play with and I do want a refuguim set-up with the sump have any idea's on how or where I could get informaton on a sump/refugium like that?

 

[Royalty]

Haha

IME = in my experience
FWIW = for what it's worth
DSB = Deep sand bed

also (I use these ones a lot as well)
IIRC = if I recall correctly
IMO = in my opinion

thanks I only feel twice as slow now!
j/k

 

[Conlius]

I got a 72 bow front as well. I got 3 inches of southdown in the display. Well...it's more like 2-3 inches depending on the spot. I have a mag 7 return and two koralia 4s (say 2.5-3k gph in display). The sand goes where it wants to for a while.

I keep a depper 6.5 inch sand bed in my sump refugium...I have eggcrate about an inch above it holding live rock rubble for pods and chaeto on the other side. The DSB in the sump is enough so long as there are sand stirrers.

 

[JohnK]

thanks I only feel twice as slow now!
j/k

This hobby is constantly evolving. I was all about DSB's 2 yrs ago

Now all the cool kids are leaving face book and going to N-P pellets.

 

[Royalty]

WWWOOOW! I almost would of had a fire just now I pluged in my little 10 gallon pump but the little guy was in my 10 gallon tank with no water!! yakes its started making noises I thought I was my new maxxi jet 1200 or something ? I didnt realize it was on good thing I didnt go straight to bed. Its been on for more then 2 1/2 hours?

 

[Royalty]

I got a 72 bow front as well. I got 3 inches of southdown in the display. Well...it's more like 2-3 inches depending on the spot. I have a mag 7 return and two koralia 4s (say 2.5-3k gph in display). The sand goes where it wants to for a while.

I keep a depper 6.5 inch sand bed in my sump refugium...I have eggcrate about an inch above it holding live rock rubble for pods and chaeto on the other side. The DSB in the sump is enough so long as there are sand stirrers.

How long has your 72 bow been runing? And would you have any advice on the sump system?

 

[Conlius]

72 bow has been up for just over 2 years but I replaced the display sandbed last summer. I originally had darker colored sand and watched to replace it with a crisp white southdown sand. So technically, this system has been running for about a year without being broken down at all.

It all depends on your system to be honest. I basically took ideas and threw them together. A lot of people say not to do a deep sand bed in the sump refugium with chaeto & rock because it can be a nutrient sink if not properly taken care of...I have read that placing live rock directly on top of a DSB in a fuge is not good because it will prevent denitrification in the areas where the sand is not freely exposed (correct me if I am wrong?)...so I made an egg crate shelf (shapes like a pi symbol) that goes all the way to the bottom of the sump and it's sides are covered in sand.

So i'll explain: I have a ~12(long)x12(wide)x10(tall) fuge compartment in my 20L sump that sits at about 10 inches of water. It has a 6.5 inch deep sand bed. I have an egg crate shelf that takes up exactly half of the fuge, on the side that received water from the display/skimmer. Water flows over the baffle, into the fuge, onto live rock placed on the egg crate shelf (The shelf is is lifted about an inch above the sand bed leaving me only 2.5 inches for SMALL live rock rubble). I let my chaeto sit in the second half of the fuge. I have a few nassarius and astrea snails in there with a couple red leg and blue leg hermits. If anything big makes it past the skimmer, they will eat it up quick. I also seeded it with trigger pods and feed it phytoplankton every time i feed (every other day).

Not sure if this is good but oh well.

 

[Royalty]

72 bow has been up for just over 2 years but I replaced the display sandbed last summer. I originally had darker colored sand and watched to replace it with a crisp white southdown sand. So technically, this system has been running for about a year without being broken down at all.

It all depends on your system to be honest. I basically took ideas and threw them together. A lot of people say not to do a deep sand bed in the sump refugium with chaeto & rock because it can be a nutrient sink if not properly taken care of...I have read that placing live rock directly on top of a DSB in a fuge is not good because it will prevent denitrification in the areas where the sand is not freely exposed (correct me if I am wrong?)...so I made an egg crate shelf (shapes like a pi symbol) that goes all the way to the bottom of the sump and it's sides are covered in sand.

So i'll explain: I have a ~12(long)x12(wide)x10(tall) fuge compartment in my 20L sump that sits at about 10 inches of water. It has a 6.5 inch deep sand bed. I have an egg crate shelf that takes up exactly half of the fuge, on the side that received water from the display/skimmer. Water flows over the baffle, into the fuge, onto live rock placed on the egg crate shelf (The shelf is is lifted about an inch above the sand bed leaving me only 2.5 inches for SMALL live rock rubble). I let my chaeto sit in the second half of the fuge. I have a few nassarius and astrea snails in there with a couple red leg and blue leg hermits. If anything big makes it past the skimmer, they will eat it up quick. I also seeded it with trigger pods and feed it phytoplankton every time i feed (every other day).

Not sure if this is good but oh well.

That sounds like a nice set-up Im going with a acrylic sump that Im getting next week it will have a refugium to I might have to mod it tho I dont think it's big enough for my refu? I kinda wanted to have two sytems running like a sump/refu and a canister filter from JBJ the reaction series 175 gallon system with a built-in UV it's not that expensive. I like the idea of having a back up ! I also wanted to get some LED's Im going to try a DIY projuect hoping it works out. Im not much of a electrical guy but Im sure I can figure it out. I was thinking of replacing my silcone due to the fact that it's a used tank and the critters in it before did some work on the black silcone plus I didn't notice that there's little bubbles in the seems of the glass panels. Not cool! I was at the meeting in may and saw Dave build a tank it was cool to watch it all go down! I dont know of any shops in my area that does glass work ? any idea's

 

[Technorch]

Now all the cool kids are leaving face book and going to N-P pellets.

HAHAHA, that was AWESOME!

 

[JohnK]

Seriously though, DSBs are Soo "myspace" now

 

[lisa foster]

Take the advice get rid of the crushed coral now in the beginning. I have a few spots where my sandbed is 1 1/2" but mostly 1/2" behind the rocks almost nothing at all.I used really fine sand so it made a hilly bottom from the powerheads now it does not shift at all.I have heard of alot of people who have a dsb in their refugium