Tank Selection

[bertoni]

I'm a heater skeptic. I've bought 3-4 brands, and they've all failed on me. I use two heaters plus a DIY temperature cutoff in my display tanks. I've lost too many animals to broken heaters.

That said, I think that Eheim product looks like a nice piece of equipment, and you can use it to run activated carbon and provide circulation if you decide against using the bio-filtering media in it.

 

[Schmoner]

Ok, I've bought my tank!

After reading and reading and... reading there's a clear debate on u/g filtration.

I've come to my own mini-conclusion.

A deep sand bed (without u/g filter) can struggle aroung the 3.5-4year bench mark, and will require replacement?

Would u/g filtration not extend the lifespan of a sand bed?

Would a shallow sandbed not eventually come to the same problem a few more years down the line, or would it rely on some good inverts?

If I was to go with u/g filtration, would the inverts take a dislike to the thin layer of dolomite/crushed coral and not be as useful compared to if it ws simply a shallow bed?

i know, the controversial question and there's no definite answer but could I just get some experiences from people and opinions too ?

Anyones feedback is a bonus please!

 

[bertoni]

I don't believe a DSB will need replacement after four years. For example, my DSBs are older than that. UG won't work with sand. You would need to use a coarser substrate. Certainly sandbed animals like fighting conchs, certain sea cucumbers, etc, aren't likely to do as well with a coarse substrate.