To sandbed or not to sandbed

Mordie101 · Oct 19, 2018

Opinions from anyone? Experience with no sandbed? I right now have a 2 inch sand bed in my nano but considering no sandbed upon upgrade. Thoughts? Limitations? Thanks all!

P-Dub · Oct 19, 2018

It is a preference thing. There are considerations that might dictate your options for you. I think that a sandbed is great for all tanks but SPS tanks. The SPS dominant tank will generally require flow that most sandbeds but the deepest can't handle. If you are mixed or soft then a sandbed is the way to go and they just look nice. Another factor is what will your upgrade be? If you have a sump you can supplement bio-filtration lost to no sandbed by rock in the sump/refugium. It really depends on what you are trying to accomplish and what type of tank you are setting up. For me, I have a 125 SPS dominant tank with heavy fish load, a large sump and separate refugium. A bare bottom is the way to go for me. The ease of maintenance with not having to vacuum a sand bed and high water flow in the display dictates no sand for me. So what are you trying to accomplish and what type of system are you planning?

cracker · Oct 19, 2018

I have both, to me, sand looks better Maintenance on the Bare is a lot easier.. Some fish need sand to sleep in ,some corals like to stay on sand. It all depends.

Mordie101 · Oct 19, 2018

P-Dub said:
It is a preference thing. There are considerations that might dictate your options for you. I think that a sandbed is great for all tanks but SPS tanks. The SPS dominant tank will generally require flow that most sandbeds but the deepest can't handle. If you are mixed or soft then a sandbed is the way to go and they just look nice. Another factor is what will your upgrade be? If you have a sump you can supplement bio-filtration lost to no sandbed by rock in the sump/refugium. It really depends on what you are trying to accomplish and what type of tank you are setting up. For me, I have a 125 SPS dominant tank with heavy fish load, a large sump and separate refugium. A bare bottom is the way to go for me. The ease of maintenance with not having to vacuum a sand bed and high water flow in the display dictates no sand for me. So what are you trying to accomplish and what type of system are you planning?

I’m upgrading to a 100 gallon tank with a 20 gallon sump. Not really big into sps now because I’m still fairly new to hobby but was just going to ask people’s opinions! You brought up some pretty good points because I’m sure eventually I’ll want sps in my tank! I’d like to have a heavy fish bioload considering that’s what my girlfriend likes in the hobby so I’m sure that’ll be tough in a way with the sand bed constantly catching waste and such. To me i think it looks realistic of course with the sandbed but i think it looks clean without. I’ve got a few months to decide before i upgrade though!

Ryan420r6 · Oct 19, 2018

If you want clean sand just get a diamond Goby

dwest · Oct 19, 2018

I love sand in a tank. I think it looks so much more natural than BB. I enjoy the creatures in the sand. Unfortunately, just removed all of mine due to dinos.

cracker · Oct 19, 2018

@Mordie101 brings up a good point. I'm amazed at all the crud I siphon out with the BB. Before it was all feeding the sand bed & it looked it too.

P-Dub · Oct 20, 2018

After four months my BB is coralline covered and looks almost as nice as sand but without the maintenance hassle. Actually, there are few places the natural reef has sand depending on the location. Corals don't do well with sandy areas in nature. Sand has a tendency to smother and kill corals. After thousands of dives in the tropical seas of the world, I can attest to this fact. Still looks nice in a reef tank, though.
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