How deep is your sand?

[NeedBiggerTank]

I have a 10% off coupon for Marine Depot or a $25 off coupon for That Fish Place which might help a little. I'm assuming I can pick up a tank to use as a sump from PetSmart? Wouldn't they have the best price on something like that? Does WalMart sell fish tanks? LOL

 

[nightfire]

walmart sells the tank kits with light,heater etc.....petsmart would be the best if ya can catch their $1 per gallon sale....or was that petco?...i cant remember.....look on craigslist there was a guy selling cheap tanks....look under nashville listing and im sure someone on here at the club may have a tank to get rid of.....many here can never get a big enough tank it seems LOL

 

[fishdoc11]

Also a good idea to make sure your sump is big enough with the sump calculator:

http://www.reefcentral.com/index.php/sump-volume

Chris

 

[rsteagall]

I've been bare bottom in my main tank for many years now. It just makes reefkeeping so much easier IMO.

Do you have any pictures of the bottom of your tank?

 

[fishdoc11]

Do you have any pictures of the bottom of your tank?

Just have a temp tank setup now. Here are a couple of pictures of my last 2 tanks. Can't see much of the bottom:

IME after a while you don't even notice there isn't any sand.

Chris

 

[Pickupman66]

Fishdoc: the Master of the Overgrowth! man those were some awesome tanks.

 

[rsteagall]

So, what is that... starboard on the bottom? Do you have any early pics when you first setup the tank? This next time around, I'm thinking about bare bottom or some kind of manifold and closed loop covered with rubble.

 

[fishdoc11]

Thanks pickupman

Ryan,
Yes it's Starboard, or HDPE, on the bottom of the first tank pictured (a 120). The second tank pictured (a 90) just had glass on the bottom because it originally started with a shallow sandbed. Here is a pic of the 120 the day after the corals were moved from Nashville to Knoxville:

Chris

 

[supertech99]

FWIW, you most definetly can use play sand, there are many reefers that have done this long term in the past and present (me going on 3 years). Besides my anecdotal evidence, silca sand unlike calcium carbonite sand, does not buffer the water. This means that it does not break down slowly and add anything to the water. This is because silica sand does not break down at the PH levels that reef tanks are kept. It is best to use aragonite sand to get the added buffer effect and considering that dry it is not that expensive, it is a good choice. I try to use many different colors/types/grain sizees of sand untill i come up with a consistency and color that "looks like" the botton of the ocean to me. I mix large and oolite grains, crushed coral, crushed shells, play sand added simply for astetics.