How much live sand for 40 gallon tank?

[JackDemetriou]

I am getting the CaribSea Ocean Direct. I am wondering how much sand I would need for a 40-gallon tank (100cm long), to have about a 1.5-inch sand bed.
Also, what is the best sand depth for a reef tank? I do not want the hassle of a deep 6-inch sand bed.

 

[Sailfin11]

You would probably need 40-50 lbs of sand for a 1.5 depth. For me, I think anywhere between 1-3 inches is ideal. At these depths you have enough sand to ensure there are no bare spots, but not too much that you get problems that often come with deep sandbeds.

 

[Gareth elliott]

I used a single 40lb bag in my 40b. Was enough to get a little over tge bottom trim. I used fiji pink so i think a little smaller so you may get a little higher. Rinse well lol

 

[JackDemetriou]

I used a single 40lb bag in my 40b. Was enough to get a little over tge bottom trim. I used fiji pink so i think a little smaller so you may get a little higher. Rinse well lol

Thanks. What inch would you say the sand bed was?

I cannot rinse though since ocean direct is live sand taken directly from the ocean

 

[lapin]

.......
I cannot rinse though since ocean direct is live sand taken directly from the ocean

You should rinse the sand. You will not rinse out much of the live bacteria. The bacteria will cling to the sand particles.
You will rinse out all the fines which will cloud your tank.

 

[JackDemetriou]

You should rinse the sand. You will not rinse out much of the live bacteria. The bacteria will cling to the sand particles.
You will rinse out all the fines which will cloud your tank.

I want to keep as much bacteria as I can, with as little die off as I can. They do give a clarifying liquid to help with the cloudiness but it will be cleared up way before I'm ready to add fish and corals

 

[Gareth elliott]

ime that bag will have everything from wood particles to microscopic debris. There is very little lost to rinsing. @brandon429 has an entire thread on rinsing sand from mature systems. That claryifing packet is a flocculate which will only cause those particles to fall onto the sand. Rinsing will remove from the system.

i shoot for enough to keep a wrasse from banging the glass 1.5-3” is sufficient like stated above. Any deeper and run into deep sand bed issues that unless you setup properly to start, can cause a crash later.

 

[brandon429]

Nobody in reefing has shown that pre rinsing makes the sand unable to pass an oxidation test

Wanna finalize the matter, it's a simple test. Bucket, dr Tims ammonia, API ammonia test, canister filter, nylon hose and pre rinsed Carib sea sand. Do the test both pre rinse and post rinse. Not one person in reefing wants to take time to render some of the most important info we all currently make guesses about. If tap water is a good sterilizer I'm wasting time on buying bleach

 

[brandon429]

These guys weren't helped by using the floc packet

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/so-i-didnt-rinse.592624/
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/sandbed-stirred-up.544852/#post-5723606

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/very-cloudy-water-after-sand-and-rock.559386/#post-5735864
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/question-about-vacuuming-sand-bed.616059/ https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/new-tank-milky-cloudy.616519/

Ocean direct live sand from CaribSea

Has anyone used ocean direct sand and what are your thoughts? I used it in my nano and noticed that any sand movement clouds the area pretty quickly. Any fixes for this or is it just part of having this sand

www.reef2reef.com

10 days, still won't settle and clouds fully
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/cloudy-tank.576835/

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/bummer-could-use-some-help.558301/

(Who keeps that many cloud risk threads handy lol)
Those were collected in the sand rinse thread where we enjoy studying pros and cons of sand work