Sand bed all the way for me. I am dosing 240 ml of alk solution per day and 240 ml of calcium chloride per day and that keeps my alk around 8.5 and calcium around 520. As others have said, I don't know if all that alk is going into the sand bed or not, but the fun my fish have playing in the sand... After all what else is there to do? I have a Dragon wrasse that would die without a sand bed. The micro fauna and things that take refuge in the sand. Plus, I've buried fish that died in sand to foster bacteria growth and presence. It has worked because my sand bed is pristine clean most of the time. I've never vacuumed it or anything. It's 4 years old.
I'd never go without sand in my opinion. I don't know if it consumes half my alk or not, it's fun to see the fish play in the sand.
I'd never go without sand in my opinion. I don't know if it consumes half my alk or not, it's fun to see the fish play in the sand.