Advantages of a deep sand bed?

[ckusnierek]

I was just wondering what are the advantages of a deep sand bed? What are the pros and cons? I have a 75g and my marine supply does not use any sand in any of their display tanks. I put one 15lb bag in mine just to cover the bottom of the tank. I have roughly 130lbs live rock and a skimmer rated for a 150g. My LFS said that was plenty. What are your oponions? I am wondering because I started to think that I might like a bit more so that when I start adding frags I can hide the base in the sand.

I figure that I can add more sand my using a tube and a funnle so I don't cover the live rock and coral already in there. Also The sand I have now seem to keep "blowing" around. I have alot of current and it seem the sand keeps getting stirred by fish and glass cleaning. I will add a more corase sand if I add more.

[pyron88]

I actually use a larger, 2mm-4mm, small gravel. I tried sand but couldn't keep it in place if I got my flow up that's why some people are going BB. I like it because some critters like to hide in it. Also I have a Mandarine and the larger size gives the things it eats time to get a little larger. Down side to me is that I vac about 1/4 of the tank each week at WC. 55g

[Geoff]

Pro's- a great big sponge for absorbing phosphates.

Con's- will need to be completely replaced at some point.

G~

[hng]

Ditto what Geoff said about the pros and cons. I wouldn't add coarse sand, since it will only trap the detritus and be more difficult to keep clean. It also sounds like you have a ton of rock in that tank. Do you have trouble with dead spots of flow? If so, you might want to consider getting rid of some of your rock, maybe trading it in for more corals.

[Twitterbait]

pull up a chair and something to eat and read this long thread.

http://thereeftank.com/forums/showthread.php?t=23293

[salt-rookie]

DSB will give the tank more stability and color. I have a 6 year old DSB that is still doing very well, NO PLANS to replace it.

WHY would it need to be replaced, and BB seems to be a throwback to the OLD Berlin System to me......

I have a 4-5" DSB and 9,800 GPH flow in a 180....that's like 55 times turnover per HOUR! No sand storms here.......I don't understand these comments.

[hng]

Originally Posted by salt-rookie

DSB will give the tank more stability and color. I have a 6 year old DSB that is still doing very well, NO PLANS to replace it.

WHY would it need to be replaced, and BB seems to be a throwback to the OLD Berlin System to me......

I have a 4-5" DSB and 9,800 GPH flow in a 180....that's like 55 times turnover per HOUR! No sand storms here.......I don't understand these comments.

I don't think anyone said to go BB with the tank. My sand comment was about the size of the sand grains which I still think is good advice. I have had a tank crash from an old sand bed so I know it can happen to anybody. I think he's having a sandstorm cause the sand is new and hasn't developed a biofilm yet and he has fishes disturbing the sandbed.

[Wiskey]

My tanks are currently setup with 5-6" DSB's, I am very happy with how the tanks and coral are doing. I do beleive that at some point the DSB will load up and will need to be replaced,.. but if I get 6 years out of it then I think it's well worth it. The DSB can act as a coverup for allot of mistakes, and that's nice,.. it also allows you to neglect the tank a bit from time to time which is also nice.

I firmly beleive that the DSB is a big bacterial mass more than anything else,.. this bacteria takes up nutureants and locks them up in their bio-mass keeping it out of your water,.. they do flux, but intill a point comes when there is no more room for bacteira they do a good job.

This is why I believe in fine graned sand,.. it has more surface area for bacteria to colonise.

For flow you have to be carefull to position your pumps properly so they're not blasting the sand, also the sand will devolop a bio-film after a little while that helps keep it down.

I have 2 pumps that do 3,100 GPH each in my 125 and the sand stays put.

HTH,
Whiskey

[Twitterbait]

Originally Posted by salt-rookie

DSB will give the tank more stability and color. I have a 6 year old DSB that is still doing very well, NO PLANS to replace it.

WHY would it need to be replaced, and BB seems to be a throwback to the OLD Berlin System to me......

I have a 4-5" DSB and 9,800 GPH flow in a 180....that's like 55 times turnover per HOUR! No sand storms here.......I don't understand these comments.

It may be that you don't have any problems... but sand does act like a big sponge sucking up all the phosphate and detrius. Eventually it will become full and you will probably get algae issues. it can take years to get to that point. There is another danger with sand, if your tank ever goes out of balance with cal, alk, or any number of parms... your sand bed with burp and release all that pent up phosphate and you can have a disaster overnight.

please take the time to read that thread i posted. it will really help.

[crvz]

If you're tank is setup well from the beginning, then a sand bed can last a long time. I think most folks starting out, though, tend to rely on their sand bed for nutrient "export" (whether they realize it or not). Obviously a sand bed doesnt export anything, but rather stores it away. If a tank has a DSB with low flow and little to no skimming (or any combination of the three), then its life is quite limited (mine lasted about 4 years, and looking back I was lucky to get that much time from it).

It's hard to prove this up front because most of the time a DSB does work for the lifespan of a typical hobbyist, or rather many reef-hobby lifespans last as long as a typical DSB. Take your pick.

[Twitterbait]

Well said!