How Much Sand?

[dnjan]

My wife has asked for strong light in the bottom of the tank (she runs the marine-life side of this project). If the 25" distance is too great for our 2x 150 MH & 2x 96 PC lights, we can then look at raising the bottom a few inches.

25" is too deep for 150w MH's if you want strong light on the bottom. Even 20" is too deep. I have 175W MH's and a water depth of about 16-17" to the bottom, and my blastomussa's (generally lower-light corals) are doing fine down there.

You would be better off with 250w MH's than 150w.

 

[Quigley]

Received a reply back from Kevin, here is what he wrote:

Hello,
The structure is designed to support the liverock so you can safely house gobies and their shrimp without fear that the rock will topple when they dig under the liverock. Normally the structure is only where the liverock sits and the liverock is in direct contact with the grating. Then the sand is pushed up around the liverock to cover the grate.

The sand should be .2-1.2mm (very fine).

Regards,
Kevin

 

[Krish]

Cool man...

 

[Quigley]

Friends,

I just have one more question to finish this thread.

What are the dissadvantages to leaving the pvc/eggcrate in the bottom of the tank?

I was all set to pull it out and only place it under the live rock. But in looking at the tank I would estimate LR covers roughtly 70% of the bottom. So in effect I would only be removing 30% of it.

Thank you for your help!
Merry Christmas,
Randy & Deanne

 

[Haole]

I don’t see any disadvantages as long as you plan to keep it covered with fine sand.
The only disadvantage would be is if you took the sand out, it would look kinda unsightly. IMO

 

[jesshimom]

FYI: I got my starboard off Ebay and was shipped very reasonably. I opted for black starboard which matches the back and sides of my tank. I love the look, but it didnt last long anyway as the coralline seemed to cover the starboard very quickly in my tank.

 

[Krish]

I don’t see any disadvantages as long as you plan to keep it covered with fine sand.
The only disadvantage would be is if you took the sand out, it would look kinda unsightly. IMO

I agree with Rob