First Setup

[fisherman45]

I wanted to ask every1 here a question. I want to get evey1's recommendations, Pro's and Con's.
I am wanting to know what every1 thinks about these substraits and why.
I have been wondering about what to put in the bottom of my new setup.
Crushed Coral, Live Sand, or just a bare bottom. This tank will be for soft coral. I look forword to reading all of the re-ply's

 

[LtPiper]

You will get as many different answers to this question as there are substraits available. I personally have a DSB (Deep sand bed) on my display tank. I went that route because I wanted a sand bottom and wanted the filtering that it offers. So far I'm happy with that choice for that tank. My Frag tank is a Deep Crushed Coral Bed. I picked that for the frag tank for the simple reason that it gives something for my coral frags to attach to. IMO it's all up to what you want in the tank and what you think is more visually appealing. In the case of just wanting soft corals you are good to go in any direction.

 

[fisherman45]

Thanks for your input LtPiper. I think right now that I am just going to start out with soft corals. Then later on for some other types of set-ups.
And hey I was just reading on another posting about the play sand at Wal-Mart? Has any1 used this in their tanks? Or do we really need to buy the kinds of sand sub straits at the pet stores for like $30.00 a bag? I want to make sure I have the right stuff to start with.

 

[Lee_Bay]

The $30.00 a bag includes a bonus that the southdown doesn't have. The sand is "alive" (Live Sand). In other words it is full of all the good bacteria that helps break down ammonia to nitrites to nitrates to nitrogen. You will probably again get varying opinions on the length of time to cycle a tank, but without "seeding" your sand with live sand I hear it could take up to 6 mos. to cycle. THEN you can start adding corals, fish, etc. I started my tank with all live sand (Fiji Pink) and several pieces of live rock. Took just over a month to cycle.

 

[LtPiper]

I used "dead" fiji black sand and added Cycle to the tank as well as seeding it with a few ounces of live sand. I also used base rock with a few pounds of live rock for the display. For the frag tank it was all "dead" crushed coral with Cycle added and about 1/2 the rock added as live rock.

 

[billragan]

I have a deep sand base in my tank. If I had it to do over I would go bare bottom, maybe a little sand for looks. A deep sand bed will eventually turn into a sewage bed, imo. But like LtPiper said you will get allot of different answers on that subject. I would definitely go for the better "live sand". Why skimp a few bucks on play sand when it could cost you allot more in the end. Good Luck

 

[1package]

I did about 1-2" of sand in one tank and went with crushed coral in the other.

I went with sand for the looks. As someone mentioned, there will be as many opinions as substrate types as well as thoughts on amount of time one will last vs. the other.

Do what you feel looks the best to you.

 

[Nathan4Wvu]

In my opinion if you starting out i would go with a DSB. Bare Bottoms are very high maintance and you will get waste collected on the bottom and it looks bad. Also if you do go bare bottom you will need a fuge somewhere on the setup to filter and remove nitrates and nitrites

 

[fisherman45]

Wow, Alot of answers to this. I worry about the dead spots in the DSB. This tank will be in my fish room, where I do water changes everyday. I will have a wet & dry Filtering system set up for this tank. What do you all recomend to go into this filter. I have Bio-Balls, Base Rock and others things to use as filter media. What do u all reccomend and Y. Thank you all for your help.

 

[grendl]

As mentioned, the debate vs BB, DSB, SSB are eternal. One I was toiling over for along time as well. I didnt want the *possible* future headaches of a DSB (there are tons of folks who have DSBs & have had them for years with no probs... I think that Jason (H. Crispa) is one ), I didnt want to go barebottom because while I liked the clean look, (imo) a little clutter makes it look sloppy. I decided on a shallow sand bed just to host some little creatures in it, & it seemed like a happy medium. I can always remove it over time, or add more I suppose.

 

[Nathan4Wvu]

Or you could do a sand bed in the front and none in the back behind the rock. I have seen many tanks like that.

 

[bneal3]

Mine is like that on my 90 gallon. About 4 inches up front and narrows down to just a dusting in the back. I have had good resutls with the tank for 2 1/2 years.

 

[firefish2020]

It really depends on what animals you are wanting to keep. Some benefit from sand while others do not. I like both SSB and BB but think that a DSB may have a purpose as well especially with burrowing creatures like jawfish and some goby. DSB has been shown to have problems but if it's done right you may lessen those potential downfalls. As for a BB system, if it's done right it can look just as good as a sand tank.