Garden Eels w/ Super Deep Sand Bed

[Mischke]

Not 100% sure that this is the correct sub-fourm, but I'll post the question here anyways.

I have a garden eel tank planned out (40 gallon cube) that'll be filled with 8-10" of sand (the stand will be build so this the sand bed is hidden, and the tank will basically be a ~20 nano). I'm just wondering if there's anything I really need to worry about with a sand bed this deep? Would I be able to add sea cucumbers, or other sand shifters to keep the top layer stirred up, and looking white, or would this cause problems?

 

[drej424]

There are many different opinions about deep sand beds. Over time, sand beds accumulate a lot of detritus and cause high nitrates in the tank. This can cause problems if you want to keep corals. Many people suggest replacing a portion of the sand after a few years.
There are lots of sand sifters that can help stir up the sand bed. The garden eels will stir the sand bed up with burrowing (from what I've read -I've never kept one). But I've never had a sand bed stay white. All kinds of creatures live in the sand, just like on live rocks.

 

[namxas]

Sounds like you have a good plan for GE's. Your biggest hurdle will be getting them to eat for you. To that end, you'll want good circulation in the water column...not crazy flow like in a reef, but you'll want the food to be suspended and float around the tank so it gets to the eels...you should be sort of thinking "Kriesel" type flow.

Can't wait to see the tank!