Sand bed question for setting up my 180

[zach_discus]

So finishing up my plumbing for my 180 and last detail is deciding on my sand bed. Sorry can not stand the bare bottom look. I would like to have roughly a 3" sand bed in my display and I'm using a 30g for my refugium and want to do a 5-6" deep sand bed in it. I like the color of the Carib-Sea Indo Pacific (black/white mix). In the refugium I'm just going with a standard reef sand.

So on to my questions:

Anyone have a idea how many lbs to get a roughly 3" sand bed in a standard 180g?
Would you go 100% Carib-Sea live'ish sand or go 50/50 Hawaii Black and white reef sand?
Is a 5-6" enough to do a remote DSB set-up?

Thanks for any and all help. Zach

 

[VicD81]

Dont be fooled, even the Hawaii black has white particles in it. If you do go 50/50 remember the smaller particles will settle to the bottom.

 

[Fin]

If the tank is 72" x 24", the amount of sand to install a 3" deep sand bed would be about 270 pounds. You can find calculators out there for this, but I probably should not link to it here. :)

 

[Trex]

My 210 (( which has the same foot print as yours )) used 200 pounds of Carib-Sea select sand (( wouldn't waste the money on "live sand" )), and the sandbed is around 3" deep.

This is 200 (( maybe 195 after losing some while rinsing it )) pounds of sand,

 

[d2mini]

Why 3"?
Do you plan on having sand dwelling wrasses or something?

If not, I wouldn't do anything more than an inch or two tops.
A lot of junk will get trapped in there.
And it will get all nasty looking up against the glass.
Just something to think about.
I'm running less than an inch now. I'm with you though and don't care for the BB look.

I'd also suggest you stay away from that black sand. It has a magnetic property to it. An especially bad thing if you use a magnet cleaner on your glass.
I had it in my nano and had to pull it out and replace with regular sand.
My corals did much better afterwards, too.

 

[zach_discus]

Thanks everyone. The only calculator I found said 400lbs and that seemed a bit much.

Yes I love wrasses and they are a big factor in the depth. As for the ugly discoloration on the glass. My tank is sunk into the stand 3", I did plan a little ahead :). Also thanks for the tip about the black sand being magnetic!!

 

[d2mini]

Cool, sounds like you are all set then! :)

 

[ca1ore]

Not a BB fan either! Remember, best practice is to place the lowest level of your rockwork directly on the glass bottom of the tank (or on a sheet of acrylic to prevent point loading). This is particularly important if you plan to have sand burrowing fish, and it significantly reduces the amount of sand needed. In my tank, a 265, I did the math, and then cut it in half and I was fine.

 

[zach_discus]

I have a bunch of 3/8 and 1/2 acrylic rod. All the rock work will be drilled and rods incerted to hold everything off the bottom of the tank. If everything works out, I'm hoping for a 1/2 or so open under all the rockwork.