bigblue
Community Member
Hi-
I'd like your opinion on this. I am of the opinion that a reef tank, even well stocked in rocks and equipped with efficient filtration (including bio) and a sump and a protein skimmer should also have a deep substrate to allow for bacterial colonization. The larger the surface, the more bacteria. I believe that 1.5 to 2.5 inches should be the norm. Substrate could be sand, crushed corals, live sand, ...
One could argue that a larger surface is not that important because bacteria self-regulate themselves according to the amount of food they can process. One could also say that a large surface would inherently become a trap for in/organic matter, and no matter how much bacteria you can have, it will never be enough to breakdown and process them.
What are your thoughts?
I'd like your opinion on this. I am of the opinion that a reef tank, even well stocked in rocks and equipped with efficient filtration (including bio) and a sump and a protein skimmer should also have a deep substrate to allow for bacterial colonization. The larger the surface, the more bacteria. I believe that 1.5 to 2.5 inches should be the norm. Substrate could be sand, crushed corals, live sand, ...
One could argue that a larger surface is not that important because bacteria self-regulate themselves according to the amount of food they can process. One could also say that a large surface would inherently become a trap for in/organic matter, and no matter how much bacteria you can have, it will never be enough to breakdown and process them.
What are your thoughts?
