Deep sand bed???

[russelas]

I am preparing to set up my second ever reef nad I have a few questions about sand beds. In my current tank I (unfortunately) have crushed coral so this wasn't an issue. the tank i am getting ready to set up is a 55g tenecor. I have heard the advantages to a deep sand bed but don't really know the details of the set-up. I have seen it in other peoples tanks and it seems to work well, but personally 6" of sand at the bottom of the tank doesn't do much for the appearence (in my opinion)

Qustions:
How deep (minimum) does it have to be to take reep the benefits?

Can the front of the tank be less deep and the back be more deep for cosmetic purposes and still benefit?

Does anyone disagree with having a deep sand bed? Why?

Do you have to make less water changes?

other opinions.....

Thanks,
Andy Russell

<a href="mailto:[email protected]">[email protected]</a>

 

[thardin]

Andy,

I am not rally up on the science of it, as I am fairly new to the hobby, But I have heard nothing but good things about it. Im am only writing about your comments about the appearance.

Dont forget that you could run a refugium or sump with a deep sand bed, and if large enough, you could run a shallow sand bed in the main tank.

I personally have a 125gallon main tank with (2) 100 gal tubs (1 refugium, 1 sump) both with about 300# of sand in each. That equates to an 8" bed, I have about 400 gph flowing through the refugium and will be growing mangroves to export nutrients. The main sump turns over about 1600 gph and has the sand & some rock in it. I have about a 2" to 3" bed in the main tank, sloping to the rear.

 

[speck]

Hi Andrew

Search around Reef BBs and you will find a butt load (U.S. standard) of oppinions and experiences with depth and grain size of denitrifying sand beds. The idea is to create an anoxic-anaerobic enviroment for denitrifying bacteria. HERE is a good article.

I have a moderate-heavy stocked 32gal system (tank+refugium+sump=32gal)

My sand bed is 1- 2mm aragonite with a little reef rubble mixed in for that natural look. Depth varies from 2"- 4" in different parts of the tank. I can see bubbles, and zoogleal mass( that dark slimey looking stuff) associated with denitrifycation. My nitrates =0 for over a year. I still do ~10% water change/ 3 weeks to re up trace elements and help maintain alk.

 

[EmilyB]

2" sandbed is adequate. Keep it at that level with regular additions of fresh aragonite.

 

[ebaybrad]

is aragonite (fine particles) good for a dsb...or sand only?

 

[Biogeek]

I'd say that you're just not going to get a reasonable answer to your questions in a couple of lines here.

There are a lot of good articles out there on deep sandbeds, how they work and why, how to go about setting one up, and why you might not want to do it. I'd suggest that you might want to start with Charles DeVito's Sandbed FAQ to get some idea of the basics. Then, if you're interested in more detail, you can move on to some of Ron Shimek's articles on the subject, or the sandbed archives of DougL among others (such as AV64Av8tor's archive).

If you read through that information, then you'll have a much better idea of how and why a sandbed works, and whether or not it's right for the specific type of system that you're trying to design...

Rob

[ February 03, 2002: Message edited by: Biogeek ]</p>