Deep sand beds?

[mook1178]

Starting my tank in the next month. Last tank I had 10 years or so ago, I ran with a deep sand bed and had very little concern with nitrates. It was a 40 gal with sump. This time I'm running a 75 gal with a sump.

So what's the consensus on deep sand beds these days?

 

[Subsea]

I had a Jaubert Plenum with 6” dsb and a mud/macro refugium for 20 years. Five years ago, I went with reverse flow ug filter in display and a cryptic refugium. I add ammonia to keep up with nitrogen demand of mature system.

 

[Fish Fan]

I had a Jaubert Plenum with 6” dsb and a mud/macro refugium for 20 years. Five years ago, I went with reverse flow ug filter in display and a cryptic refugium. I add ammonia to keep up with nitrogen demand of mature system.

Just to be clear, you had the 6" sand bed in your DT, and the mud in your sump?

And you now prefer a cryptic fuge vs a deep sand bed?

Thank you for your help!

 

[fish farmer]

Starting my tank in the next month. Last tank I had 10 years or so ago, I ran with a deep sand bed and had very little concern with nitrates. It was a 40 gal with sump. This time I'm running a 75 gal with a sump.

So what's the consensus on deep sand beds these days?

There is less concern with achieving zero nitrates currently and other ways to manage nitrates that don't take up in tank space.

 

[CHSUB]

I do about 3 inches of sand, think that is good for denitrification. Have unreadable no3 and feed a good amount of food for corals and fish.

 

[Subsea]

Just to be clear, you had the 6" sand bed in your DT, and the mud in your sump?

And you now prefer a cryptic fuge vs a deep sand bed?

Thank you for your help!

75G display had a 6” dsb over Jaubert plenum. I reduced substrate to 2” and plumbed flow into plenum void to reverse flow up thru 2” of aroggonite substrate.

40G mud/macro refugium was modified to a cryptic refugium with a focus on cryptic sponges. I removed seaweed and added live rock seeded with cryptic sponges. Mud in filter has increased in depth by 1/2” in 25 years. It feels spongy to the touch and is crawling with worms & pods.

 

[DCR]

I also run 3" sand beds in the display and refugium and have less than 1 pm NO3 with a heavy fish load (about 45 fish in 350 gallons of water between two display tanks and a common sump including 5 tangs, a foxface and 2 large angels). I feed 6 cubes of frozen a day. Also great for burrowing wrasses. Most people on this forum think they are not needed or desirable, but I am a believer that a relatively deep sand bed has advantages and would always include one.

 

[betareef]

I like to have at least enough for wrasses and nassarius snails to bury in. I tend to make it proportional to the tank height. So the deeper the water, the deeper I make the substrate bed.

 

[vlangel]

I have a dsb in my display and sump. Between that and the ornamental macroalgae I have to feed heavy to keep the nitrates up. My tank is 24" high so I am happy to give up some real estate for the sandbed. As you can see my sandbed is tiered; shallow on the left and deep on the right.

 

[56longroof]

I have a 6" sandbed with plenum in my tank. I had the same setup with my reef tank in the mid 90's and it was extremely successful so I'm trying it again. Plus my tank is 30" deep and the added height is appreciated when trying to reach the bottom.

 

[mook1178]

Thank you all.

I think I am going to go with about a 4 in sand bed this time. I am wanting to have a wrasse or 2 and goby with a snapping shrimp.

Does anyone have a grain size recommendation? I was thinking 40 lbs of the CaribSea Aragonite at 1.0-2.0 mm and 20 lbs of something a bit larger.

 

[56longroof]

I think the grain size will be fine as long as you put a heavier substrate on top of it. The Caribsea sand is pretty light and will get blown around.

 

[DCR]

I used about a 70/30 mixture of the Ocean Direct Oolite sand / Special Grade and then threw in a small amount (5%) of the crushed coral to get some larger pieces for my burrowing gobies and jawfish. I wanted the finer sand for denitrification. You need some even larger pieces for the burrowing fish to work with, but the finer Oolite is easier on the burrowing wrasses