Live Sand or Sand in a Reef

[aj]

Is live sand or sand in general important in a reef?

I have created a reef without sand (Just live rock) thinking that the sand will create a chemical problem later and may raise Nitrate levels eventually?

Any ideas there... Is it a requirement in a reef or is a reef better off without it.

Currently I have some power heads with some plumbing designed to push the water from under the live rock and towards the overflow for a current to avoid having residue and thus chemical imbalance.

I may not have done a good job since I got High Nitrates anyway and I had to resort to Nitrate Sponge to remove the high levels.

Anybody know of a better way?

Thanks all...

[hooked]

I would say the sand is your choice. I have seen many nice reefs systems with no sand and many with.

For you nitrates I would do weekly water changes of 15-20% and cut back on your feeding to 2-3 times a week and only what the fish can handle.

[thefatman]

there are many a people that prefer a plain old glass bottom on thier tanks. so its not a requirement. that's why there is sand, crushed coral-in various sizes, and nothign at all.

it's your call. they all work, as long as you follow one specific method. i've read an awful lot that it's not good to mix and match different methods.

i swore i would never go with a dsb, because i thought it was ugly, but the more i see them, the more i liked them and will be doing one in my new tank. ( ialso swore i'd never do a reef, because i thought corals were ugly little rocks )

[icebear]

how long have you been using nitrate sponge?

[Geoff]

what is your bio-load? do you have any other types of filtration? if you have a wet/dry filter or canister filter, they can cause hight nitrates. the LR alone is probably the greatest filter we have so far. as long as the bio-load is resonable to the aquarium size.

HTH,

G~

[aj]

Originally posted by icebear
how long have you been using nitrate sponge?

A couple of weeks... It works like magic! Of course I also did a 15% water change.

Also:

I have a wet-dry filter (can handle 100G+) for a 65G tank and I have additional filteration media in the over-flow.