80# of live sand in a new 90 G , that enough ?
- Thread starter 3bavboys
- Start date
whiteshark
Active member
Thats what I put in mine, but it is not spread evenly. It is high in the front and lower in the back ( my hippo tang likes the extra space behind the rocks because of the lack of sand). There is sand covering the entire bottom, however. Opinions differ on the eveness of sand beds and the different kinds of bacteria that will grow in the deep parts and the shallow parts (anaerobic vs. aerobic). I havent had any problem with my uneven sand bed. It really is up to you if you want to add more sand or not. I think you should be good with 80lbs. You could always add sand thats not live and mix it in with the live to save a little $$$$$.
rustybucket145
New member
Doesn't sound like enough. How Deep is it? I would think you would need almost double what you put in 160lbs+
CaliforniaDreamer
Premium Member
Without knowing what you intend the sand bed to do (support lots of diverse life, provide for chemical filtration, look nice, support fish like jaw fish that burrow, ... the amount and type of sand bed can't be recommended. Is the "Live Sand" to total of all of the sand? If so for my application I would agree that it is not enough. In any case I would not add expensive "live sand" at this point but would add dry rinsed sand if you should decide you need more. I want a LOT of stuff living in the sand bed. I go for an average of 3" in my tanks (no Plenum). I am also trying out various sizes of sand and one tank with a mixed bed and they all work differently. Also how much rock do you have in your tank? If you have a lot of live rock and it sits directly on the bottom (this is the way I do it), then this reduces the amount of sand needed.
