Live Sand or Not to Live Sand?

[frozenecho]

G'Day,

That is the question. When I had my reef tank for 6 year I found that not having live sound enabled me to keep the tank pristine. However, there seems to be lots of controversy on this topic.

Can I get my fellow reefers to please post their comments, concerns and suggestions for a 140 gallon reef tank measuring 48x24x28

All information is appreciated.

I am appending this post only because I want to know also if you all suggest a substrate at all? I should post apoll but maybe next time.

So in adition to the live sand question I want to know how many of you suggest a clean bottom of the tank as well?

 

[Len]

Hello Stephen,

Welcome to Reefs.org!
You'll probably find that most of us highly recommend the use of substrate. In fact, most will likely recommend you use a deep sand bed (4-6" of fine particulate sand). Shallow sand beds tend to cause some problems (e.g. excessive nutrients and subsequently algae), but deep sand beds is a whole other story Shallow beds only encourage nitrification and thus builds up unwanted nitrogenous byproducts (namely nitrate), but deep sand beds adds the big benefit of denitrification (exporting of nitrogen from the water). Deep sand beds also promotes diversity of life .... always a good thing for a healthy ecosystem.

So in short, I personally recommend sand substrate (live sand is even better). Just make sure it's not just a shallow coating of sand for aesthetics, but rather a functional deep sand bed. Your tank dimensions is perfect for a DSB

 

[frozenecho]

G'Day,

Not sure if you remember me but I wrote you personally a few days ago and your response was to write it all here. I was the one asking for your opinion on the hardware I was purchasing.

You can see another one of my posts here.

http://www.reefs.org/phpBB2/viewtopic.p ... highlight=

Just wanted to say thanks for your response and having a place where we can all come and discuss these things.

Much appreciation!

 

[Len]

Ah ... i remember now. Didn't associate your user name with the email Glad you've found your way over here. I'm sure you'll get great opinions from others in our community.

 

[fungia]

i use a dsb. it seems everyone i know online likes dsbs and it has worked great for me the past few months.

 

[Anonymous]

Another vote for a DSB. Make sure you get the proper size grains. I used Southdown Play Sand for mine. It's is available at HD in some areas. I seeded that with live rock and some fresh live sand that I bought at the lfs. Go with 4 - 6 inches like Len said.

Louey

 

[ChrisRD]

I think the jury is still out on this one for me. I've had tanks with little sand and no sand that did very well - no nitrate or algae problems. I've also spoken with some very experienced aquarists that have great tanks that don't like or use DSBs.

My current tank is coming up on a year and has a DSB in the main tank, as well as the refugium. I've had some macro algae problems in this tank that I've never experienced in the past, although that could be attributed to some other factors. Water parameters are always great. I'd say one year is too early to tell...

One thing I'm pretty sure about these days - there are certainly many ways to have a successful reef, depending on what you want to keep, what you want to do for husbandry, etc. I've seen lots of beautiful reef tanks with a DSB and plenty without as well.

One nice thing about a DSB is that you can always add it later if you want to try going without one at the start.

 

[Anonymous]

people seem to forget to mention this. A DSB has its certain applications. It's not recommended for all scenarios. So in order for me to give you my opinion I would have to know what you plan on putting in the tank.
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