Thinking of adding sand to my BB sps tank

prodman

Active member
I have been BB for over 2 years now and I like the look its working well but I miss some of the tank diversty. I would like to keep a leopard wrasse and maybe a sand dwelling anemone. But I find it hard to imagine turning my flow down. I have 2 6100 tunzes and 2 6045 nanostreams that keep the tank fairly churned up. So why should I stay BB or why should I add the sand? Thanks
 
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You could add sand in small increments and see where the flow takes it. Wherever it settles ya add some more and eventually you will have a sand bed. Probably won't cover the whole bottom.
 
i'm removing my sand so i can crank up the flow in the bottom half of the tank for more SPS. the middle/top areas have no more room.
 
Oh yeah. Just get some of the thicker grain sand for the areas that the aragonite gets blown around.
 
I have seen small shells and crushed coral used in those areas as well. Karl has a pretty diverse sandbed from what I can tell in his photos.
 
Are you looking for a deep bed, or enough sand for your critters?

I added sand back in about 8 months ago [had been BB for 2 to 2.5 years at that point]. With high flow - some of it still is bare, some of it has a nice 1" or a bit more for my sand-sleeping wrasses to be happy in.

No regrets here :)
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9838552#post9838552 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by MiddletonMark
Are you looking for a deep bed, or enough sand for your critters?

I added sand back in about 8 months ago [had been BB for 2 to 2.5 years at that point]. With high flow - some of it still is bare, some of it has a nice 1" or a bit more for my sand-sleeping wrasses to be happy in.

No regrets here :)

Good to hear thats what I am thinking is just enough to cover the bottom but I think if i do it I will add some larger grain stuff in the bare spots like Mark09 suggested.

And should I look into live sand? Or does it matter and what about reccomended grain size? Thanks
 
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I originally went with larger grains, but have since siphoned it all out. Yes, it stayed in place better - but trapped a lot more + maintenance was [ideally] higher vs. finer grained.

All IMO, of course.

As far as live or not - I did have mine here in a tub for about a week with some LR ... it seems like if adding to already estabilshed tank, that it settles much faster if bacteria-coated. Also - having a 58 meant that 30-40# of sand was all that I needed - easy enough to do as a very shallow layer on a tub. Again JMO :)
 
I'd say skip the cc or large grain as well....just let the couple bare areas go(you liked all BB for years)....if it is only for sand dwelling wrasse.
If for more biodiversity, I'd say add a remote dsb.

Be careful and add very slowly...i've heard a few horror stories of existing tanks completely going to heck quickly adding sand too quickly or too much at a time. The Carib-Sea 'live', although too much money, is very clean. So it is easier to add without fear of a downfall.
 
I have the reef sand. It is made up of small aragonite and does not have the shells that their substrate does.
 
Do you like it? What do you think of the one I linked its a little cheaper. Did you rinse the live stuff or just pour it in?
 
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