setting up new 65 g reef

[lanacane214]

is there anything i can do to keep sand from scratching up my glass? how much sand is neccesary?can i put sand some in my sump tank? is there an option other than sand, i have 100 pounds of live rock. thanks

 

[beefbroccoli]

i notice some member put cutting boards on the bottom of the tank, don't know if thats the right way to do it

 

[meschaefer]

Without reccomending one over the other. People generally go with a Deep Sand Bed or they go bare bottom, in a bare bottom tank they place cutting board.

I have had a deep sand bed of about four inches for six years and have never scratched my glass.

 

[Henrye]

I keep a 1" shallow sand bed (sand just looks more natural to me) and the sand itself hasn't scratched my glass at all. The only way sand can cause scratches is if it gets between your glass cleaner, usually a magfloat, and you run it across the glass surface. Even then, itdoesn't always scratch.I've had small amounts of sand under my magfloat and didn't scratch the glass at all (don't try this yourself to see if I'm right!). Falling rock, using a razor blade at a bad angle while clearing any coralline off the glass wall are among the commonest ways glass gets scratched. Whether to use sand shouldn't be based on scratch concerns.

 

[lanacane214]

one of the reasons im setting up a new tank is my old one got scratched up with the mag float.its not that hard if you get to close to the sand

 

[meschaefer]

one of the reasons im setting up a new tank is my old one got scratched up with the mag float.its not that hard if you get to close to the sand

I am sure that you can scratch the glass that way. But it really is the exception to the rule, and can be avoided with a little forethought and care.

 

[headlessblade]

you can use egg crate aka light defusers at home depot $10 for a 4'x2' i believe (or is it 3'x2'?)! it will keep it from scratching and keep some kinda circulation vs cutting board...