Sand as Filter Media?

[pacificnewt]

Hi all,

I had a random question that I’m sure has come up before but I couldn’t find it for my life of me! So I figured I would reignite the conversation.

With all the talk of different biological filter medias, I’ve been considering how I can add a lot of bio filter media without breaking the bank. I just set up my first 40 gallon with a 20 gallon sump so now I have so much more room for media than I did in my previous tank. There’s the MarinePure stuff which I like but is super pricey. There’s those ceramic rings from the big box stores or Amazon too. There’s always just live rock rubble too. However, I want a media that I could suspend off the floor of my sump (on an egg crate platform) and be in a media bag for easy removal. I had some shower thoughts this evening and wondered if filling a media bag with very course grade sand would work well as a bio filter media? Yes I have a sand bed in my main display, but it’s very thin and I am planning on keeping a softie tank that I will feed heavily. I want all the bio media I can get. I have some mesh produce bags that are SUPER fine mesh that I could easily fill with 5-10 lbs of very course aragonite sand.

This seems like a super affordable option that would satisfy my desires. But what am I missing? I’ve never seen this before and I’m sure there are probably better budget options out there. If this is a bad idea, I’d love ideas for other affordable options to create more space for biome to grow in my sump. My main tank has a minimalist aquascape with less rock than average with a thin sand bed so I am trying to supplement a bit by adding more space for biome in the sump.

 

[KrisReef]

Yes, maybe. I have seen tanks where the sand in deep beds would melt together and become a rock, porous, still but glued together by low pH (?) and then cemented together into a block that formed in the bottom of the tank. Had to break it up to remove it, but otherwise I don't think it has to happen. If you want to suspend gravel in a bag over a plenum that has been shown to work especially well if you have good flow, often reverse flow to keep the gravel oxygenated.
@Paul B has a thread on here about a reverse flow undergravel filter that might be informative as well an entertaining. He's a world famous published author with a Supermodel wife and he's fairly accessible when he's around cuase he likes to talk but probably not as much as me?
He also has a thread about putting bottles in your tank, but that is more advanced project and I think it doesn't come up until his 4th best seller? I'm getting fuzzy on it all as I put a bottle in me before i started typi

 

[reefsaver]

I just moved my gravel from my display to my sump because it's been a few years and I wanna change things up without impacting the tank too much. I figured it's going to be doing the same stuff down there as just a bit of a buffer. I'll probably be taking it out over time but I also have a bunch of plastic and ceramic media, live rock and stuff in the sump. After all this time I think it's not really a question of one thing that's a cure-all as biological filtration. I think sand as media would absolutely work but I would have other things like ceramic media and bio-balls, live rock, really diversify it up. In my opinion you want the biggest variety of life capable of biological filtration. Then you're well on your way to ULR.

 

[Tenecor Aquariums]

Closed loop reverse flow undergravel. Works like a charm. We have this 300 sitting around in a lobby. Proof of concept reef is what it’s going to be. No sump. Just OF’s and reverse flow undergravel. Let’s see how it goes.