Sand Bed

[lireefman]

I have a 27 gallon reef with about a 15 gallon sump. When I had a hundred and twenty five gallon reef years ago, I did a three to four inch sand bed. I've started with a sand bed on this new tank, but my lfs suggest no sand bed. Please advise on your thoughts. Thanks in advance.

 

[mcgyvr]

My beliefs are that sandbeds can provide a home (surface area) to TONS of various bacteria and loads of beneficial microfauna,etc... as well as allow sand sifting creatures,etc.. what they want/need..
They can also allow low oxygen environments beneficial for denitrifying bacteria..
Its also natural looking..

However..
There are people that are successful with sand beds of all sorts of thicknesses as well as those with bare bottom tanks with no sand..

In general/so far its a personal preference as very specific comparisons of one vs the other have not been studied in any true factual research that I've seen..

You pick what you like..

I always do a 2-3" sand bed in all my tanks so far..

 

[jlmawp]

I love tons of critters and biodiversity, and would never be without a sand bed pretty much for that reason alone. When I thought about it, I considered that every ocean and every reef has a sand bed, and it serves important purposes. Waste breakdown and nutrient cycling. Plus, it provides a home to many organisms that don’t do as well or can’t survive in rock.

I can see the benefits of going bare-bottom, but I would always recommend a bed of some sort to anyone getting into the hobby.