Sandy Bottoms

[weigner]

I have an interesting issue. I recently was given a 350 gallon reef tank with a shallow sand bed (2-3") and no sand in the sump. When I move the tank I was thinking about increasing the depth of the sand tp 5-6".

1. Is this a good idea?
2. What are the benefits of a DSB?
3. How do I place in the new sand during the move?
4. Does the existing live sand go on the bottom, top, or mixed in?
5. What water parameters can I expect to fluctuate with the addition of a DSB?

 

[ChrisRD]

Hi Weigner and :welcome:

Personally I would leave it alone. IMO there's nothing 5"-6" of sand is going to do for you that 2"-3" isn't already doing.

 

[Anonymous]

I have done it both ways, shallow and deep sand, and have found that I prefer the shallow beds (or even bare bottom) to deep beds.

My shallow bed tanks always had the same great water quality that my tanks with a newly set up DSB had, but without the DSB drawbacks of: having to find/buy a lot of sand, taking up so much space in the tank, and shallow beds are easier to maintain in the long run.

The deep sand bed cannot run indefinitely, in my opinion/experience ( :wink: ). When I removed my DSB after 4 years or so, it was very full of junk that I blame for my serious phosphate issue, perhaps user error, perhaps not. Regardless, I feel sand should be periodically cleaned or exchanged, and not relied upon as some bottomless pit/endless magical filter that only needs additional critters to keep running forever.

But, if you are set on adding a DSB, I would put new sand in the tank, and take a good bit the old live sand and put it on top.

 

[Dewman]

HI Weigner, and welcome to Reefs.Org !!

Did you say you were "Given" a 350 ?


8O

Where can I find friends like yours?


My LFS has a 500 and he only uses shallow beds in all aquariums for the EXACT reasons Laura just cited.
He claims that it is not practical to keep a 5 inch sand bed in such a large tank due to:

1. Cost
2. Maintenance over the long run (eventual replacemant)
3. Space in the tank

From all of the helpful threads I have read on this great website, If I had such a large tank, I think I would want a shallow bed.

 

[weigner]

Thanks for the warm welcome everyone!

The main thing I'm concerned with right now is upseting the reefs balance during the move. Is it smart to throw away the sand and start a new bed (deep or shallow) during a move?

 

[Anonymous]

MY gut says that a 350 gallon tank is way way too heavy to move with a sand bed in it, so you are going to have to remove the sand bed and transport it seperately.

It depends on what the tank looks like before you tear it down on whether or not to keep the sand bed, if the tank looked absolutely great and the sand bed looks great and is full of little creatures then keep it. But if the tank is crappy looking and full of algae or something I would put mostly new sand in the new tank and seed it with a bit of the old.

Concerning sandbeds, there are basically 4 different kinds that are popular right now--

Deep sand beds, 2-3 inches is fine
Shallow sand beds, just a bit on the bottom for looks
No sand bed, bare bottomed with nothing between rocks and the glass
Faux sand beds, people glueing a small amount of sand to starboard and covering the bottom with it.


You will have to decide which you prefer, There are people who support doing each different kind, and from what I have seen, they all work.

 

[Entacmaea]

I would echo what knucklhead said. If you do use a large amount of the old sand bed though, it will go through a cycle of its own, as most likely there is a lot of stuff, good critters and bad nutrients, trapped in it. I might go 2/3 new and 1/3 old, putting the old on top and mixing it slightly.

A 350 is a nice gift, man!