substrate depth?

[tkjeffrey]

hey guys, 2nd post here I am wondering about substrate depth? I have heard 4 inches and heard just enough to cover bottom, what should i believe? give me your thoughts. Oh, and what type of substrate?

Thanks
Travis

[squid]

Oh boy...IMO depth is apersonal preference. There are threads here at TRT that address deep sand beds and potential problems that might/have happened.

Substrates...let me see if I can get you to answer that question. What's at the bottom of the ocean? Crushed coarl or sand. IMO if you are re-creating mother nature, then use what she uses.

[tkjeffrey]

I am using crushed coral and aragonite about 1 1/2 thick. Good?

[squid]

Please understand, this is just my opinion, ok?

As long as your "crushed coral" is crushed and not in large chunks. mother nature has so many animals that can keep the sand clean, sand sifting starfihs, sleeper gobies, dragon gobies, etc...if the crushed coral is toooo big, it can rip them up something fierce. So, again in my opinion, if the crushed coral is of the smaller size, that should be just fine.

[JennM]

Travis - go check out the "Think Tank" forum here at TRT and peruse a few threads about DSB (deep sand beds) and see what the longtime hobbyists are doing before you commit to one thing or another...

I personally use a shallow, 1" aragonite substrate, and it's worked for me for many years - used to use crushed coral but the really coarse (pea sized or slightly smaller) is a pain in the you-know-what for trapping waste, and as Lise mentioned, sand creatures aren't suited for it, whereas the finer sand is a friendly substrate for them, as well as many tiny fauna and flora that live there.

Hope this helps.
Jenn