Sand aquascaping tips?

[Yesevil123]

Hello!

So ive had my 55 gal reef/fish/invert tank up for 7 months. I have an an issue with the sand since then. I use the Jebao current makers, the SOW-20, and my sand just never stays even. Im having a hard time trying to keep it as leveled as possible. I think its causing my inverts stress.. and myself, honestly. I have one on each side of the tank pointed in different angels at the lowest speed they go. It has soo many different settings but im not tech savvy and i cant figure it out. Which i know is partly my problem. I do have a pistol shrimp, so i know hes another cause. But my rocks are concaving in because of all the missind sand. ANY ideas, suggestions, tips, etc are highly appreciated.

 

[PPBlimpy]

It appears when you set the tank up you used the super fine sand. Its good for sand sifting fish like gobies etc but as you are experiencing, hard to keep from moving around.

cant really help with fixing the issue but can make some suggestions to try.

having your powerheads mounted lower and pointing to the surface more may help, also the extra agitation will help raise your PH and cool the tank.
Also maybe one at the front and one toward the rear. the two may be colliding mid tank making the flow hit the sand bed in the middle and push that sand around.

 

[Sophie"s mom]

I agree with @PPBlimpy ! Your power heads are aimed at each other which is causing them to blow sand from the middle outward. I would point one toward the surface for agitation, and put the other in a lower, back corner tilted just so slightly up. That should cause a somewhat circular motion, but the slight tilt will help it to not move so much sand.

 

[Reefering1]

I like it. Seems more natural than just flat sand

 

[WalkerLovesTheOcean]

Great advice above. Another piece of advice (which it is really to late now) is when you are aquascaping, instead of putting the sand in first, put the rocks in first so that way the rocks are resting on the stable glass bottom, rather than the unstable sand. this prevents your aquascape from crashing. I made this same mistake in my first build (nothing bad happened though)