Sloped Sand

[spec33]

In most successful freshwater aquascapes the substrate seems to be sloped upwards towards the back of the tank to create depth or around the hardscape.

Would this work in a saltwater tank at all? Say going from less than an inch of sand in the front up to 3-4 inches in the back? Or having different depths of sand around certain rock structures? Then preventing the sand from leveling by adding some rubble or smaller rock structures.

 

[ClownNut]

no, because freshwater dont have much flow, with the amount of flow we have in our reef sand wont stay like freshwater planted tank.

 

[whoisfelix]

As a guy who started off in fresh water and got into aquascaping, I'll just say that the main reason you see this is purely aesthetic. Deeper sand toward the back in a box of water creates an illusion of depth. This is often not necessary in a reef tank because the rock work tends to lend that sense of depth if laid out well.

Can this be done in a reef tank? Of course! Deep sand bed proponents could chime in on what may happen in the back of your tank. I would be mindful of the type of sand you use though. Fine sand will likely move around with higher flow (as ClownNut said) and coarser sand will likely trap the kind of stuff you wont want in a deeper sand area.

 

[ramseynb]

I would not put 3-4" of sand anywhere in the tank. Unless you're going to run a deep sand bed (which requires some special work and is like 6") I would not use over 1" of sand. Additionally, I'm a big fan of lightly siphoning and stirring up my sand during water changes to keep the detritus out. with 3-4", your going to create a huge detritus trap with none of the denitrification that DSBs supposedly create (I've never had one but I've heard people rave about them and people that they didn't work out for).

 

[ReefkeeperZ]

yes it can work if you plan correctly, though I would not go over 3 inches unless you are going to go for a full 6-7 inch plus depth. My 40 is sloped and I used rocks under the sand to prevent leveling, and when I am doing tank maintenance I usually push some sand back wherre it needs to be if my fishes have moved any which damsels tend to do.

 

[gary_bergman]

If you have enough flow, it will be hard to keep it steady. Have tried this and it always seems to level itself out.

 

[billdogg]

My tank has done that all by itself. I started with an even 2" or so throughout. As the power heads have done their thing, there is now maybe 1/2" at the very front, and in the back, behind the rockwork, up to 4+ " in places. I just let the sand go where it wants to. IMO, it looks more natural that way anyway.