Sand Bed on new tank

[kurt]

Ok, I got my 30L up and running. I'm use live sand and it is 1 inch deep (40lbs of live sand) Is this enough sand for the bottom of the tank or should I put in another 15-20lbs?

 

[Krish]

It all depends on what you are trying to achieve. If it is just for looks and nothing more, then that is just fine how you have it (shallow sand bed) . You'd just need to remember to vaccum it out when doing a water change to keep waste to a minimum from building up in it and maybe some sand sifting critters to aid you. If you want a sand bed to perform denitrification, then you'd need a few more inches of sand (deep sand bed) which requires different type of care

 

[kurt]

I plan on using some sand sifting critters to help keep the sand clean. I'll be putting live rock in a few weeks. Will deep or shallow sand bed help the live rock? Also do you just lay the rock on the sand or do you push it down into the sand?

Thanks

 

[Krish]

I plan on using some sand sifting critters to help keep the sand clean. I'll be putting live rock in a few weeks. Will deep or shallow sand bed help the live rock? Also do you just lay the rock on the sand or do you push it down into the sand?

Thanks

Well, both deep sand beds and shallow sand beds can help with biological filtration, but only a deep sand bed can perform denitrification (process where nitrates is converted to nitrogen gas and released into the atmosphere). However, it takes special care to keep a dsb and can (not always will) cause issues down the road when the sand bed becomes "clogged" which can cause a tank to crash. Live rock, on the other hand, can both provide biological filtration and denitrification all by itself...Without the aid of sand at all which is how bare bottom tanks run like my tank and many others. It's all a personal preference, but you don't need sand to help the live rock. It will perform it's duties all on it's own.

As for placing the rock, not very many people do it, but you typically want to place the rock in first and pour in the sand around it to prevent any dead zones (for a shallow sand bed), but most people just either push their rocks down into the sand for more stability or just lay them on top and don't have any issues. I guess like the saying goes..."More than one way to skin a cat in this hobby" so whatever works best for you, I say go for it

 

[ronj]

i would leave it shallow or go barebottom..i always had higher nitrates when i used sandbeds..i do think that they look better though!!!

 

[Damsel13]

I am seriously thinking about going back to a deep sand bed because I like it, I like the critters and I feel unless one is running a very "clean" tank a deep sand bed allows for cool critters. I do not have any hard coral.


Debbie