Adding sand to bare bottom

[jdpeters]

I have a 40 breeder that I started back in January. It’s bare bottom and I intended to have it be primarily easy sps tank. It of course had problems pretty early on and I lost all of my livestock to dinoflagellates. It was very upsetting and after trying many things I let it just sit the last 3-4 months and watched a slew of nuisance algae’s take over.

I feel like I’m ready to get my hands back into it after I believe the algae’s are neutralizing probably some of the kinks out.

My question is does anyone have experience adding TBS sand to a struggling tank and is it really as effective adding diversity and stability as some tout?

Also if I wanted a shallow sand bed that’s around 1.5 inches how much might I add?

 

[eggie]

You will need like 2 bags of 20 pounds. Try and rinsing it with RODI water a couple of times before you add it to the tank. Tank will get cloudy but a little less if you go slow

 

[KrisReef]

What’s really in the bag that will bring stability, peace & tranquility just because you add it into your system?

It’s going to be a change for certain but only god knows what the results will be, and I don’t want to pretend to speak for Him.

If you want sand add it, but it will be a change that requires adjustment and maybe additional time vs not adding it but time will be needed to see how it goes. If it shortens or lengthens the time to stabilization, how will you ever know and how would you measure it?

 

[exnisstech]

Personally I wouldn't rinse TBS live sand unless it was with saltwater.
Tip to adding is to use a fairly large funnel and a piece of PVC pipe. You hold the pipe near the bottom and pour the sand in and you can move the pipe around to spread the sand. It makes a lot less mess than just pouring it in. And extra pair of hands is helpful.

 

[jdpeters]

You will need like 2 bags of 20 pounds. Try and rinsing it with RODI water a couple of times before you add it to the tank. Tank will get cloudy but a little less if you go slow

I have quite a bit of rock. I ordered 20 pounds from TBS and I can’t wait. I intend on getting a bag of arag alive this week that I’m going to put in first.

What’s really in the bag that will bring stability, peace & tranquility just because you add it into your system?

It’s going to be a change for certain but only god knows what the results will be, and I don’t want to pretend to speak for Him.

If you want sand add it, but it will be a change that requires adjustment and maybe additional time vs not adding it but time will be needed to see how it goes. If it shortens or lengthens the time to stabilization, how will you ever know and how would you measure it?

I’m buying it for the biome. I started this 40 off with no sand and 30~ pounds of Carib sea purple rock of some type and I suspect it’s largely why I had so many problems and lost ALL of my live stock from dinoflagellates and other algae’s smothering out my corals.

Personally I wouldn't rinse TBS live sand unless it was with saltwater.
Tip to adding is to use a fairly large funnel and a piece of PVC pipe. You hold the pipe near the bottom and pour the sand in and you can move the pipe around to spread the sand. It makes a lot less mess than just pouring it in. And extra pair of hands is helpful.

I don’t intend on rinsing it out, that would be unhinged IMO. I was thinking though I’m not sure how to gauge how much water I would be displacing with 40 pounds of sand in total.

 

[exnisstech]

There's probably a calculator somewhere. I'm not a math guy so I if I had half a bucket of sand I would remove 3/4 bucket of water then poor back any extra once the sand is in.

 

[Aquadude1]

I added tbs sand and rock to my new tank, and I feel it brought some stability. I would go for it but personally would not rinse it.

 

[Reeferbadness]

Personally I wouldn't rinse TBS live sand unless it was with saltwater.
Tip to adding is to use a fairly large funnel and a piece of PVC pipe. You hold the pipe near the bottom and pour the sand in and you can move the pipe around to spread the sand. It makes a lot less mess than just pouring it in. And extra pair of hands is helpful.

i agree - no rinse and use a pvc pipe - i do this from time to time to add to my sand bed as needed. Clouding is minimal

 

[BryanM]

I agree, I would only rinse with salt water.... But I would rinse it.

I would also replace filter socks before you do this, so you have a better time catching the cloudiness and clearing things up quicker.

I love the idea of a big funnel and pvc.

 

[eggie]

It sure has to be a big funnel as it could get clog pretty fast and easy. I would go with a cup IMO

 

[SPS2020]

I have a 40 breeder that I started back in January. It’s bare bottom and I intended to have it be primarily easy sps tank. It of course had problems pretty early on and I lost all of my livestock to dinoflagellates. It was very upsetting and after trying many things I let it just sit the last 3-4 months and watched a slew of nuisance algae’s take over.

I feel like I’m ready to get my hands back into it after I believe the algae’s are neutralizing probably some of the kinks out.

My question is does anyone have experience adding TBS sand to a struggling tank and is it really as effective adding diversity and stability as some tout?

Also if I wanted a shallow sand bed that’s around 1.5 inches how much might I add?

Is your goal still SPS? Sand is not going to be your friend if you have high flow. My .02

 

[jdpeters]

Is your goal still SPS? Sand is not going to be your friend if you have high flow. My .02

It was initially going to be. I glued down black cutting board material to the bottom for a clean look but I’m going to switch to a softy tank. I work 60-70 hours and have 28 tanks. A sps tank isn’t a smart move for me right now.

I agree, I would only rinse with salt water.... But I would rinse it.

I would also replace filter socks before you do this, so you have a better time catching the cloudiness and clearing things up quicker.

I love the idea of a big funnel and pvc.

why would you rinse with salt water? I know there has to be more than one camp on that. Mostly just curious.

I’m gonna have a water change to go after adding sand and I intended on swapping out socks

There's probably a calculator somewhere. I'm not a math guy so I if I had half a bucket of sand I would remove 3/4 bucket of water then poor back any extra once the sand is

My tank back siphons when the power is cut to just a half inch below the top of the sump so I have to be careful here lol

 

[KrisReef]

Transmission fluid funnel

 

[BryanM]

why would you rinse with salt water? I know there has to be more than one camp on that. Mostly just curious.

because its live sand, it has salt water in it already, and rinsing with rodi will likely kill a lot of the beneficial bacteria.