Going from bare bottom to deep sand bed

S

shoprat001

Member
Here's my story. When I first got involved in reef aquariums I had a crushed coral substrate about 2" deep. The upkeep in that was a real PITA. Every water change I had to vacuum the entire aquarium. I went like that for about 7 years.
I bought a bigger aquarium (150 gal) and decided it was time for a change. I bought some starboard and went bare bottom. I didn't realize how much current and flow is necessary for these to work so I'm ready to try a deep sand bed.
I'm going to pull all my live rock out and set them in a rubbermaid container so I can pull the starboard out. I'm hoping to leave the fish in during this operation and finish it in a couple hours.
My questions are
1. What kind and size of sand should I buy for the sand bed? From what I've read the sugar grained size is best.
2. Where is a good source to buy 300 lbs of sand? I'm not adverse to buying 200 lbs of play sand (as long as its not silica based) and 100 lbs of live sand.

Norm
 
I bought 8 30's of sugar-fine aragonite (which is what you probably want) from Drs Foster and Smith today.

They had the best price and shipping from what bit of online shopping I did.

FWIW: If you're going to do this while the tank is up and running....

I added a DSB years ago to an existing 55 reef, and I had good results with dampening the sand with tank water in a rubbermaid bucket and then sliding the wet sand down into the tank through a 3 in. piece of PVC pipe. It didn't mess the tank up that badly and I could "shoot" the sand right where I wanted it.
 
That's a good idea, Reefchick.

I have crushed too right now, and I am looking at perhaps switching out and figuring out how to do it...maybe a mix of it and sand.

I am going to be switching from wet/dry to sump, and I play on doing a DSB in the fuge there, but for display reasons, I am going to tinker.

I thought about wetting it down to help, but delivery was going to be the issue. Assuming you just filled it and covered with your hand to let it in the tank?
 
Thx for the Dr foster tip and the PVC tip Reefchik. I was gonna use a funnel but didn't think about wetting the sand down first.

Norm
 
I did the same thing as you, but I ended up scrapping the sand bed and going back to starboard.... Sand beds are a real PITA for me.. They always look nasty, they are a real mess in the long run IME... Starboard is much easier to clean as apposed to sand.

Just my $.02
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15321608#post15321608 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by ForSaleByAndy


I thought about wetting it down to help, but delivery was going to be the issue. Assuming you just filled it and covered with your hand to let it in the tank?
Click to expand...

I put the PVC in place first with the underwater end where I wanted (just started at one end and moved it around) and using an old measuring cup began dumping the sand down the tube. Having it pretty wet made it slide down the pipe easier (weight).

When I got done, I dumped a couple of cups of tank water down the pipe (measuring cup again) to get the last of it out.

Measuring cup with the pointed spout aimed the sloppy sand better into the end of the tube. A pliable plastic Big Gulp or similar cup would work too. Just squeeze it so globs of wet sand don't end up everywhere including falling into the tank and floating down through the water. That defeats the purpose.

Oh, one more thought in case it's not immediately obvious: take water out of your tank to wet the sand, because you're going to displace a fair amount of water doing this and you'll need the head space.
 
I swear by DSB. I had one in my 55 gallon reef with a fair number of soft corals and fish, and never had detectable nitrates, either. Made me a believer :)
 
Will be doing this either Mon or Tues. Thanks again for the idea. I'm gonna get a funnel from the dollar store and put it into the PVC
 
I share a similar story -- years and years of shallow sand, followed by bare bottom. Before you make the change, are you sure you don't want the flow "required" for a bare bottom -- and if you do want that amount of flow, will that work well with deep sand? Bare bottom does require heavy duty flow to work correctly, but in creating heavy flow you get benefits like better SPS health and more denitrification from live rock. What I'm thinking is that if you're going to spend that amount of money on sand, would your tank be better off if you just spent the money on a Vortech or two?
 
I have 2 tunzes in there now. Its the inverts and their antics I miss. With the strong flow at the tank bottom crabs can't get a grip on the starboard and get tossed about.
I've just made so many mistakes, starting with the crushed coral that I'm looking for remedial help on the sand grain size so I don't do it AGAIN.

Norm
 
You won't want the funnel. Unless you get a fat mouth canning funnel, it will just clog. I tried that first :p

You want "sugar sized" aragonite for DSB. Get the smallest size you can find.

Good article for your reading enjoyment: Deep Sand Beds
 
You'll be happy with the switch to DSB both for lower nitrates and for invert life (its own mini ecosystem). I personally like the look although I've always had a portion of my CUC turn over the sandbed. I have always used sugar-sized aragonite as I like the look more that larger grains even though the sugar size can sandstorm a bit with very high flow. I would strongly consider rinsing it before adding it to tank: maybe use a hose with tap water and then do a final rinse w/ SW before adding. 2 cents.
 
I was mostly worried about the sand compacting if I used all sugar sized grains 5" deep. It appears not to be an issue so thats what I'll do.

Norm
 
I use the caribsea special floor grade, 1-2mm.
I like the slightly heavier to have good flow w/out sandstorm.
Works well for me.
 
Not calling into question your experience, but personally I would remove the fish temporarily for that operation. The amount of silt roiling through the tank for (up to) several hours would be comparable to a human attempting to breathe during a dust storm...
 
I was going to use Reefchiks method and wet the sand then slide it down a tube. To remove the fish would almost require a total tank break down cause they are hard to catch

Norm
 
i have used this sand several times during my setup and have had no problems. it is a nice white sand and small grain.
www.ebay.com item number 250456973412
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Niven
Am I allowed to bring live sand/live rock home from Mexico?
Replies
12
Views
269
Uncle99
Uncle99
H
Need sanity check on Deep Sand Bed Cleaning
Replies
3
Views
632
wvned
wvned
B
Getting back into reefs after a decade away.. Questions
Replies
9
Views
2K
Dustin07
D
R
Sandbed depth question
Replies
9
Views
302
Guygettnby
Guygettnby
M
Rock hard crushed coral sand bed
Replies
8
Views
363
Jimbob
Jimbob
Back
Top