What should I put on top of my Southdown sand?

[ReefStar]

I have about 5-6 inches of Southdown Sand in my tank. It keeps getting blown on my rock structure near the bottom of the tank. Should I be putting a thin layer of another grain of sand on top of let it be? I am getting frustrated as it seems to blow around the tank fairly easy.

Any ideas?

 

[SteveP]

How old is the DSB? It takes a while for bacteria to colonize and weigh down the sand so it doesn't blow around as much. If you want to add a top layer, I'd think standard aragonite gravel should be OK.

Steve
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[ReefStar]

It is about 9 months old. The biggest problem is I have a clam sitting on the sand that blows the sand around when it opens and closes. Also, even though my powerheads are near the top, they seem to cause the sand to move around also. Is anyone else having problems like this?

 

[Jefe12234]

What size tank do you have and what kind of circulation do you have in it? Can you reposition your pump outputs/powerheads so they don't blow the sand around too much? You really don't want to dump a bunch of coarse stuff on top, as this will act as a detritus trap and cause problems for some sand fauna. If you can't get around it though, you should be able to add a layer of slightly coarser sand without any ill effect. I think most of the Carib-Sea sands are coarser than SouthDown. I would just avoid anything with larger pieces resembling crushed coral.

 

[Emperator]

Stick a thin layer of LS on top of your Sd and you will not have any issues. You may also want to redirect the output of the pumps/powerheads too.

 

[newkie]

9 months is pretty old to still be blowing around. That's odd. The sand is seeded with LS or critter kits right? No harm adding up to 10% larger grained LS or cc. Good luck!