Lets Talk Substrates for the Marine Aquarium

STP wellsophyllia · May 13, 2013

And just to cover "sand storms".... Sand storms are completely avoidable. Once you have your aquascape set up you can play with your powerheads and return heads to get the flow to not kick up any sand. I have two ecotech MP40's on my 90 gallon and with the setting and placement i havethem on right now they ramp up to 85% power without picking up a grain of sand. I get high flow even in the deepest darkest places in the tank which just proves with some time and patience you should be able to perfect your flow

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elimav · May 31, 2013

I already have a seascape 2 clowns an anemone and shrimp. Right now I have a BB tank. Can I add sand or do I have to take everything out first?

skinz78 · May 31, 2013

You can add sand, your tank will be cloudy for a day or so but It'll clear up.

STP wellsophyllia · Jun 1, 2013

If you have a canister filter and a protien skimmer running that will speed up the proscess.. Just remember that you should clean them more often for a week or so so it dosnt become plugged up. How much sand are you planning to add?

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elimav · Jun 3, 2013

I'm thinking of adding about 2 inches

STP wellsophyllia · Jun 4, 2013

Are you doing live sand or just substrate and what particle size are you looking at?

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elimav · Jun 4, 2013

I used coarse live sand. It worked well. The water cleared after a couple of hours.

STP wellsophyllia · Jun 4, 2013

Very good. I would suggest adding one or two more inches. This is just my opinion. I had a live sand bed for about a year (shallow 2") and i always had problems with ph and alkalinity problems but now that i have my 4 1/2" i could go hands off of my tank for several weeks without having a parameter fluctuate. (i also love knowing that the tiny worms help boost my ecosystem's immune system)

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Eckolancer · Jun 4, 2013

Went bare bottom and love it. Used to run DSB for about 15 years no idea why I didnt try BB in the past.

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Eckolancer · Jun 4, 2013

Oh BTW i have my sand sifting star with 2 big red brittles and 1 huge pink brittle starfish. These stars are all doing great and have been with me for about 5+ years now. On top of that during my switch from DSB tank to BB I transferred some nassarius snails that all are doing fine as well. I did get rid of my wrasse as I wasnt sure he would like BB as he slept in the sand at night.

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elimav · Jun 5, 2013

I like the idea of a deep substrate but I don't want to bury the bottom of my seascape. My anemone has decided to imbed at the bottom of the structure and there are lots of crevices down there for my shrimp and fish to hide in.

STP wellsophyllia · Jun 5, 2013

I hear what you are saying, just remember that all of your livestock knows where it likes to be whether there is sand there or not. Especially shrimp. They will move it right out of the way. If you have any wrasses or gobies they will be more than happy to move that sand too..

Paul B · Jun 5, 2013

What, no talk of Under Gravel filters? :violin:

beaslbob · Jun 12, 2013

Paul B said:
What, no talk of Under Gravel filters? :violin:

What did you expect Paul? Tanks that last for 40 years? :hail:

BTW what brands do you use for your beer bottle and glass jar substrate?

:bigsmile:

Paul B · Jun 12, 2013

I don't know what you are talking about, and neither does he.

yazeed · Jul 17, 2013

Which is better sand or crashed coral for fish only system?!!

Jay6363 · Oct 28, 2013

Is it possible for a sand bed about three inches and about 3 yrs old to be leaching phosphates back into the system?

I have aragonite in my 60 gallon

donkey88 · Oct 29, 2013

the picture of the sand above has a section of tunnels and caves brown in color if this is stirred up it will release toxins, if so what happens when this brown section reaches the top of the sand?

donkey88 · Oct 29, 2013

sorry wrong thread

bostonreefer78 · Feb 4, 2014

Great article, I have used all the above mentioned methods during my years, I have lately or the last 7 years preferred a deep sand bed for its beneficial reduction in nitrates, you can see the small bubbles of nitrogen gas build up in the sand bed and see them release to the surface, this is a great way to understand how the DE nitrification process works.