Sand bed to have or have not

SSB (~1"), if regularly vacuumed, is what I prefer. But if I were to go without a true SB, I'd still like the look of a sand bottom. One solution to accomplish this is to take a 1/4 or 3/8" thick (preferably white) acrylic sheet the size of the tank bottom (or two sheets side-by-side to cover the bottom of a large tank), cover the top surface and sides thinly with tank safe silicone and thoroughly sprinkle/pat on the sand or gravel of your choice. Let sit for 48 hrs, shake off the excess sand and you've got a bottom surface of sand which can be easily cleared of detritus just like a BB. For a more natural, wavy look just vary the thickness of silicone applied to various places on the top surface and then let dry a few days longer to make sure it cures thoroughly.
 
Gsxr600 said:
if you really want to keep wrasses you should incorporate a sand bed. the tub of sand isnt really going to be sufficient and its not going to leave that clean look youre going for with a bb.

i personally like the bb look over sand. ive gone back and forth and once coraline start to grow and you keep the bottom spotless, you cant beat it.. sand seems to lead to problems over time in my experience.
Click to expand...

Depends on the wrasse. Flashers among others don't need a sandbed and will thrive without a grain in the display. I'll personally never go back to sand but agree with others that thick starboard or similar is preferred over glass bottom
 
IME wrasses that bury themselves in sand during the night will often pace and seem disturbed or unsettled if they dont have a place to feel comfortable and safe when the lights go out.
 
I'd go with sand.. Plus you have the added benefit of protecting the tank bottom should a rock take a short tumble off a shorter cliff :thumbsup:
 
most wrasses are fine. if they do not find a substrate, they will just produce a cocoon every night.

instead of just keeping the bottom bare. i have used an epoxy substrate. one can also use white HDPE on the bottom.

G~
 
I actually like the pics you sometimes see of bb tanks where the glass is still pristine and that have a very minimalistic aquascape, I don't like them as much when coralline starts to grow on it.

Myself I only had a shallow frag tank with bb, I had put a styrofoam sheet under the tank with a silvery reflective coating to "emulate" the light reflected from a sandbed (I think that effect is a great plus of sandbeds) but had big problems with corals being burned by too much light... That's when I added a sandbed to that tank as well...
 
in my system i used a FSB (Faux Sand Bed). two part table epoxy with Southdown sand embedded in it. i used a ratio of two parts sand to one part epoxy. after i poured the slurry i sprinkled more Southdown all over the FSB to give it texture.

G~
 
Sand. It looks better. We're trying to create a snapshot of what is in the ocean, correct?

At least that's my reasoning.
 
not all environments in the ocean have sand. :D so i guess it all depends on the snapshot you are trying to recreate.

sand may look good, but it also has other properties that can and can not work to our benefit. to use sand without knowing these properties can lead to a system failing sooner than one would like.

G~
 
G (or may I call you Dude ;) ),
the main problem I see with the fake sand is that it will also start to grow coralline algae since there is no movement like in normal sand.

As for the advantages: you might be right, but I think most people nowadays - or at least the ones that frequent forums - know about the risks and rewards sandbeds provide. I think it's really mainly an aesthetic choice (if we aren't talking about DSBs or sandbeds for fish/other burrowing animals one wants to keep).
 
you are correct, coralline growth on the FSB is a "problem". sprinkling the sand on the FSB after the pour created enough of a texture that coralline was not able to grow on it as solidly as if it were smooth. it is true that it did not look exactly like sand after about a year.

i still think the plateau sand bed is the best of both worlds for those that have organism that need the substrate, yet want the tank easy to maintain long term.

of course who says that other ideas can not be thought up. :D

G~
 
Here is my BB with encrusted corals
image.jpgclick thumbnail
 
less than 1" is doable if using a coarse material that you can either easily siphon or stir it up regularly and have a canister type filter pull it out after it has been stirred up.

less than 1" using oolitic sand is going to be really annoying and will not be very effective. if oolitic sand is what one wants, then go with at least 3 inches and either replace it all at once every few years, or siphon some out and replace on a regular basis. under 3" inches seems to be a no-mans land when it comes to keeping oolitic sand.

G~
 
I've been wanting to set up a Remote Deep Sand Bed ("RDSB"). One problem I have is that I can't seem to find any sand that has the tiny grain size recommended by R. Shimek:

"about 1/16th mm (0.063mm) to about 1/8th mm (0.125 mm)"

Sheesh that's small. You might find a sand that's 0.10 to 1.0mm or something like that, with the upper range of the sand barely within the recommended spec. But when I read that Shimek says to be sure to only use such fine sand when constructing a DSB, or else risk failure, I get a little worried...
 
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