Making a sand bed not flat.

[WVNed]

If you wanted a sand bed with areas at different levels how would you do it. I can think of 3 methods. Create voids with something like ceiling grid. Block them out with something like starboard though I think that might get expensive or contain it and pile it deeper.
I want to do this in a standard 75 gallon tank.
I don't think I have seen this done but I am sure someone has.

 

[WV Reefer]

If you wanted a sand bed with areas at different levels how would you do it. I can think of 3 methods. Create voids with something like ceiling grid. Block them out with something like starboard though I think that might get expensive or contain it and pile it deeper.
I want to do this in a standard 75 gallon tank.
I don't think I have seen this done but I am sure someone has.

@vlangel has done this.

 

[TheHarold]

Just insert a divider across the bottom, to create a dropoff effect.

 

[azbigjohn]

My sandbed is not completely flat, I do try to have hills and valleys.

The struggles are:
Wavemakers, as strong as most have them for SPS flow, often will try and make the sandbed flat.
Depressions in the sandbed often become catch points for detrius and debris kicked up by the wavemakers.

Even if you made forms to follow, ultimately, flow in the tank will try and flatten any major uprisings.

 

[Jon Fishman]

I did deep-to-shallow quite effectively in my 75

 

[Reefer40b]

Lets see some pictures of non-flat sand beds... been tossing this idea up as I may be changing my sand when I move my tanks..

 

[hyprc]

Once I got enough flow going in my tank to keep all my coral happy, my sand had a nice pattern in it from just getting pushed around by powerheads.

 

[Peace River]

The last time I bumped one of my powerheads when doing tank maintenance I ended up with an uneven sand bed!!! Seriously though, I think a baffle system in the sand is probably going to be a reasonable approach. Good luck!

 

[LobsterOfJustice]

Vortech MP40 or a diamond goby...

 

[WVNed]

I am thinking of the marine version of something like this with macroalgae
About 3 levels or so.
Pond foam, landscape cloth, bricks, some live rock. Since it will be joined to the other system and sump It can be minimalist.
I ordered 40 pounds of Carib Sea ACS01794 Aragamax Alive West Caribbean sand this morning.
I want to conceal an 18inch tube for a snowflake eel in it also

 

[fish farmer]

I am thinking of the marine version of something like this with macroalgae
About 3 levels or so.
Pond foam, landscape cloth, bricks, some live rock. Since it will be joined to the other system and sump It can be minimalist.
I ordered 40 pounds of Carib Sea ACS01794 Aragamax Alive West Caribbean sand this morning.
I want to conceal an 18inch tube for a snowflake eel in it also

I built a "deep" hole in my atoll tank with small pieces of marco rock cemented to the bottom of the tank and to each other with marco cement. I back filled the deep area with sand maybe 3 inches and less than in inch in the hole area.

 

[WVNed]

I think I am going to build a 3 tiered structure with bricks. Not sure how I feel about a lot of large anoxic voids. Then camouflage it with pond foam and live rock pieces. I may cover the bricks with landscape cloth. I need to see how well the pond foam sticks to it. I want the 3 levels to meet off center with a tall section of live rock. That is where the eel tube will emerge.
One section will be the bottom, another will be single brick and the third will be 2 bricks.
I pretty much do everything TLAR and thats how this will end up.
Or I may hate it and forget about it. I have a picture in my head but I am not great at making what I imagine.

 

[Peace River]

I think I am going to build a 3 tiered structure with bricks. Not sure how I feel about a lot of large anoxic voids. Then camouflage it with pond foam and live rock pieces. I may cover the bricks with landscape cloth. I need to see how well the pond foam sticks to it. I want the 3 levels to meet off center with a tall section of live rock. That is where the eel tube will emerge.
One section will be the bottom, another will be single brick and the third will be 2 bricks.
I pretty much do everything TLAR and thats how this will end up.
Or I may hate it and forget about it. I have a picture in my head but I am not great at making what I imagine.

One thing that I have done with experimental projects like you are envisioning is to mock it up. For example, you could use playground sand, bricks, and tap water in plastic large plastic container in your backyard (or whatever you reasonably think will let you see how the tiers work). Good luck!

 

[Katrina71]

Curious to see if you implement your idea. I thought about something similar for a wrasse without going dsb in the whole tank.

 

[WVNed]

I need to go find the pond foam. There are supposed to be 2 cans at Lowes. I already have the bricks and landscape cloth here.
Off to remove the water from the tank and siphon it back to the holding tub.

 

[Silent]

If you want the look of that more than function you can build a structure out of foam or whatever and use epoxy or liquid rubber and sprinkle sand on it and let it dry then shake off the sand and it will look like its all sand but wont blow away and stay put.

 

[Butuz]

Or, get a diamond goby. You will have a new landscape every day!

 

[WVNed]

I am planning to grow macro in it so the sand bed has to function.

 

[vlangel]

If you wanted a sand bed with areas at different levels how would you do it. I can think of 3 methods. Create voids with something like ceiling grid. Block them out with something like starboard though I think that might get expensive or contain it and pile it deeper.
I want to do this in a standard 75 gallon tank.
I don't think I have seen this done but I am sure someone has.

I have done this. My tank is tiered with 3 levels. I just used large pcs of live rock to build retaining walls. That way my tank has both a deep sand bed and a shallow. Currently its a stand alone AIO tank so the large amount of rock gives it a lot of biological stability but with much of it buried the tank does not have the overbearing rock wall look. In fact the multi- levels gives it a lot of places for coral, a lot of hiding spots for blennies and gobies and the tank is very dimensional with differing depths. Its more than a year and a half old and I love it.

 

[Hermie]

I use rocks embedded in the substrate to create a plateau effect