Sand or no sand 220g?

Dmorty217 · Dec 26, 2012

Im setting up a 220 that will be primarily sps and some Lps. I plan on having a reeflo dart as a closed loop and 2 mp60's for flow. Should I do a sand bed at all and if so how deep? My concern is there will b a lot of flow in the tank and the sand will pile in places and be bare in others. I will have roughly 265lbs on mature liverock with a 50g Refugium. Stock list is Tommi tang, Desjaradini sailfin, group of green chromis, shrimp goby, and want to add a group of lyretail anthias, and a diamond goby if I have sand in the 220. All opinions are welcome

brannock_16 · Dec 26, 2012

You could always use starboard and epoxy sand onto that to give the illusion of a bed without the hassle that high flow causes on traditional sand beds such as piling and what not.

Dmorty217 · Dec 26, 2012

Starboard? Not familiar with that. Where can I get it at? Or couldn't I just epoxy a thin layer of sand right to the bottom of the tank?

Dmorty217 · Dec 26, 2012

Anyone?

cubanreef22 · Dec 26, 2012

I am a fan of sand, just not too deep

brannock_16 · Dec 26, 2012

Dmorty217 said:
Anyone?

Just do a search on rc for starboard. I found over four informative threads regarding the use of this.

Also try a google search for starboard to find local dealers.

If you epoxy sand straight to the dt glass bottom it will be relatively difficult to remove in the future and could have a significant impact on resale value. I would highly advise NOT to epoxy sand to the tank bottom.

Dmorty217 · Dec 27, 2012

Ok I will check it out. This tank won't ever be sold but I guess you may have a point. Thanks for the input. So for people who have a lot of flow do you have deep sand beds or just bare spots in the tank because your not using a lot of sand. Cubanreef22 you have a 1200g with sand how do you avoid this problem

Bandos reefer · Dec 27, 2012

I would go bare bottom since you're gonna keep sps

tigershark4 · Dec 28, 2012

Starboard is the same thing restaurants use as cutting boards. I saw someone use limestone tiles. That was cool

Phixer · Jan 18, 2013

I like sand and always try to simulate the most natural environment. Bare bottom tanks just dont have the same appeal IMO.

Phixer · Jan 18, 2013

Double post deleted.

bkvreef · Jan 18, 2013

I am also setting up a 220 I just picked up. I like the look of sand, and wouldn't set a tank up without. But I can understand the potential mess. I have always rearranged the p.h.'s in the case that sand was blowing.

By the way I'm in Brookville.

benchen8844 · Jan 19, 2013

I'm running my 250 for three months now, I have 1-2 inches oolite , I use dolphin type 4 pump as closed loop pump, a lot of flow, eventually the sand will settle down, I'm fan of sand, but one thing drive me crazy, fish make sandstorm when I feed, couple days , there is a lot of sand in the rock, hate that, I'll move 2-3 month, for sure I will set bare bottom, you always can add sand later if you don't like it,

downbeach · Jan 19, 2013

I have a mixed reef, and <!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:View>Normal</w:View> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:TrackMoves/> <w:TrackFormatting/> <w

unctuationKerning/> <w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/> <w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w

oNotPromoteQF/> <w:LidThemeOther>EN-US</w:LidThemeOther> <w:LidThemeAsian>X-NONE</w:LidThemeAsian> <w:LidThemeComplexScript>X-NONE</w:LidThemeComplexScript> <w:Compatibility> <w:BreakWrappedTables/> <w:SnapToGridInCell/> <w:WrapTextWithPunct/> <w:UseAsianBreakRules/> <w

ontGrowAutofit/> <w:SplitPgBreakAndParaMark/> <w

ontVertAlignCellWithSp/> <w

ontBreakConstrainedForcedTables/> <w

ontVertAlignInTxbx/> <w:Word11KerningPairs/> <w:CachedColBalance/> </w:Compatibility> <m:mathPr> <m:mathFont m:val="Cambria Math"/> <m:brkBin m:val="before"/> <m:brkBinSub m:val="--"/> <m:smallFrac m:val="off"/> <m:dispDef/> <m:lMargin m:val="0"/> <m:rMargin m:val="0"/> <m:defJc m:val="centerGroup"/> <m:wrapIndent m:val="1440"/> <m:intLim m:val="subSup"/> <m:naryLim m:val="undOvr"/> </m:mathPr></w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]-->I firmly believe in using a <acronym>[FONT=&quot]DSB[/FONT]</acronym>, it's a major part of biological filtration in an aquarium. But for this to work, you will need the right substrate (aragonite), of the right size (sugar sized oolite), and the right depth (3+"), with the right microfauna (see below). Here is a good article about it, and its use:

Ron Shimek's Website...Deep Sand Beds

Here is the sand I used:

CaribSea Aragamax Aquarium Sand

and activated it with this:

: : : : Indo-Pacific Sea Farms : : : :

If you go this route, as mentioned in the article, you should avoid certain sand sifting animals. This will expand on Dr. Shimek's explanation:

Sandbed Death: Innocent Killers - Marine Engineers | Marine Engineers

Dmorty217 · Jan 19, 2013

I love the look of sand, and I know there is a ton of filtration capacity in sand. I just hate it when the bottom is bare in spots and sand gets thrown on the rocks. I thought about a epoxy resin that is clear and then putting sand to that so I have the look of sand, but it won't be able to blow around the sand. Bkvreef when mine is up and running we will have to trade some frags, I have a bunch of different kinds

Carant · Jan 20, 2013

Dmorty217,

I like the epoxy with sand on the bottom idea and believe it would work. You could then add additional sand and then when it does move around you will not have the bare spots that you are trying to avoid. Resell, I do not think it would be that big of a deal.

One of the biggest thing sand does is protect the bottom from rock falls. Using starboard will do this. Consider this issue in your decision.

Cheers,
Bruce

Cac986 · Jan 21, 2013

I currently have a 300 g sps/lps reef with high flow. My sand bed is about 1" to 3" (sugar sized) depending on the area of the tank. It is a challange to point your power heads/MP60 so they do not blow the sand around and increase your nutient load. However, with a little patients you can acheive a perfect balance. There are to many benificial baceria/microfona in the sand bed to give it up. Plus you will be limited to certain live stock (sand sifting gobies) with a bare botom tank. I also believe that light reflecting from the white sand will reflect back to the base of your corals, and not be absorbed from the bare botom.

Sand or no sand 220g?

Dmorty217

Saltwater Addict

brannock_16

Member

Dmorty217

Saltwater Addict

Dmorty217

Saltwater Addict

cubanreef22

New member

brannock_16

Member

Dmorty217

Saltwater Addict

Bandos reefer

New member

tigershark4

Member

Phixer

New member

Phixer

New member

bkvreef

New member

benchen8844

New member

downbeach

New member

Dmorty217

Saltwater Addict

Carant

Member

Cac986

New member

Similar threads