Need help with sand

[Murica]

I currently have a bare bottom tank, it’s 450 gallons with a 300 gallon sump.

I know myself too well and there’s no way I’m cleaning the sand bed (as much as you’re supposed to or at all), especially with a tank that size.

If i wanted to add sand, are there any types that are better for maintenance free? Best sand depth? If i do get sand, I’ll be sure to get plenty of creatures to stir the bed.

Or would it be best to keep the tank bare bottom in my situation?

Any help would be great.

 

[cilyjr]

I have never done much to maintain a sand bed. If it's relatively shallow you shouldn't have to do much. I always liked a larger grain sand. I used a mix of Tropic Eden 2.5 and 3.0 mm sand. The larger pumps have a harder time creating a sandstorm when it is a larger grain. They will still move it and create bare spots from time to time but they won't blow it all over the tank so it becomes cloudy

 

[Murica]

I have never done much to maintain a sand bed. If it's relatively shallow you shouldn't have to do much. I always liked a larger grain sand. I used a mix of Tropic Eden 2.5 and 3.0 mm sand. The larger pumps have a harder time creating a sandstorm when it is a larger grain. They will still move it and create bare spots from time to time but they won't blow it all over the tank so it becomes cloudy

Thanks, i might pick some up today and I’m debating which type to get

 

[Murica]

I have never done much to maintain a sand bed. If it's relatively shallow you shouldn't have to do much. I always liked a larger grain sand. I used a mix of Tropic Eden 2.5 and 3.0 mm sand. The larger pumps have a harder time creating a sandstorm when it is a larger grain. They will still move it and create bare spots from time to time but they won't blow it all over the tank so it becomes cloudy

Other than sand storms, are there any pros or cons to the grain size?

 

[Spare time]

I highloy recommend diamond

I have never done much to maintain a sand bed. If it's relatively shallow you shouldn't have to do much. I always liked a larger grain sand. I used a mix of Tropic Eden 2.5 and 3.0 mm sand. The larger pumps have a harder time creating a sandstorm when it is a larger grain. They will still move it and create bare spots from time to time but they won't blow it all over the tank so it becomes cloudy

I agree, my diamon goby, sand star, and others do a good job. There is some algae and stuff against the glass under the top layer but I really don't care about that since I like the ecosystem of my sand bed.

 

[Murica]

My lfs has a bunch of fine sand.. I’m not overly concerned with sand storms in my tank because it’s 30” tall and all the higher flow stays towards the top. Decisions decisions..

 

[Spare time]

My lfs has a bunch of fine sand.. I’m not overly concerned with sand storms in my tank because it’s 30” tall and all the higher flow stays towards the top. Decisions decisions..

I prefer a heavier grain. Do you know what brand sand they carry?

 

[Murica]

I prefer a heavier grain. Do you know what brand sand they carry?

I think caribsea

 

[brandon429]

Murica I must ask you this

the sand comes with obvious benefits

wrasse home etc

but Id advise to study the sand rinse thread/50 pages of where common reef tanks had bad times.

that cannot be discounted. to get info from a subset of tanks that does not involve the problem side means you are missing out on what's potentially most likely to happen to your reef.

if it wasn't a potential likelihood, we'd be at ten pages v fifty, fixing sandbed problems, and large tanks have it the worst of all due to inaccessibility when the whole system is turning eutrophic

study where the work is, ask yourself what's the plan when dinos or cyano comes, how far are you willing to go for remediation

getting a wrasse bowl of sand might save u tons of headaches.


deep sand bed in a nano: not a problem, we can rip clean anything we want any time we want.


deep sand bed in a reef tank (you'd better add pre rinsed cloudless sand or big pain comes)-

any series of overfeed events, waste storage, or just because, changes the chemistry of your system into invaded and you hate the system for eight months but knowing if you just wait longer, it might look better... its not that you have a small chance of this happening, its that you have the larger chance of it happening. but not for two years...then whamo.

straight from the thread. its pains and successes are logged, you can see sandbed adventures for the masses before you begin.

if after reading several jobs from large tanks you have a plan for invasion, or are willing to wait it out, then you should add a bunch of sand to the tank.

notice the pre rinsing part of that thread, no matter what sand you buy, pre rinse it in tap water.

if that's skipped, you can also see the outcome in the sand rinse thread. titled appropriately

 

[Murica]

Murica I must ask you this

the sand comes with obvious benefits

wrasse home etc

but Id advise to study the sand rinse thread/50 pages of where common reef tanks had bad times.

that cannot be discounted. to get info from a subset of tanks that does not involve the problem side means you are missing out on what's potentially most likely to happen to your reef.

if it wasn't a potential likelihood, we'd be at ten pages v fifty, fixing sandbed problems, and large tanks have it the worst of all due to inaccessibility when the whole system is turning eutrophic

study where the work is, ask yourself what's the plan when dinos or cyano comes, how far are you willing to go for remediation

getting a wrasse bowl of sand might save u tons of headaches.


deep sand bed in a nano: not a problem, we can rip clean anything we want any time we want.


deep sand bed in a reef tank (you'd better add pre rinsed cloudless sand or big pain comes)-

any series of overfeed events, waste storage, or just because, changes the chemistry of your system into invaded and you hate the system for eight months but knowing if you just wait longer, it might look better... its not that you have a small chance of this happening, its that you have the larger chance of it happening. but not for two years...then whamo.

straight from the thread. its pains and successes are logged, you can see sandbed adventures for the masses before you begin.

if after reading several jobs from large tanks you have a plan for invasion, or are willing to wait it out, then you should add a bunch of sand to the tank.

notice the pre rinsing part of that thread, no matter what sand you buy, pre rinse it in tap water.

if that's skipped, you can also see the outcome in the sand rinse thread. titled appropriately

Do you have the link to this thread?

 

[brandon429]

Official Sand Rinse and Tank Transfer thread

If you are reading this thread to cure a tank invasion from a link I sent you, we do not need to identify your type of invasion here we do not need you to test anything at anytime regarding nitrate, phosphate etc Above all, we do not need to see a microscope slide picture of your invasion at...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[brandon429]

in all fairness this doesn't mean you will get a crash

it means if one happens, everyone struggles on how to fix it, in tanks that big, and from our daily posts you can see how common headaches arise vs not arise.

there must be 15,550 deep sandbeds that work fine, those don't post only the rough ones

 

[Murica]

in all fairness this doesn't mean you will get a crash

it means if one happens, everyone struggles on how to fix it, in tanks that big, and from our daily posts you can see how common headaches arise vs not arise.

there must be 15,550 deep sandbeds that work fine, those don't post only the rough ones

I’m going to read through it later, but i started to a little.. does this apply to only those thanks that you move? Or does this apply to tanks with sand in general?

 

[brandon429]

that is a mix of moves, please help cyano is taking over my life, or dinos, or moves into other reef tanks upgrades and downgrades.

the takeaway from the jobs that are not yours is that their whole system will die if they try and customize the process of handling aged sand. for all its benefits for sure, a direct liability set comes with adding sand back to your big tank. accessing it to cure out mistakes/unaccounted for issues will be very very tricky, plan carefully.


several of those are just older aged beds acting badly in large tanks, and they're very hard to deal with at that point but not in the nanos. your tank being so large + dilution its going to last prob a couple years depending on fish/input/export/currents all kinds of variables before its expected challenges, merely relaying there is a downside to consider, its why everyone posting their needs assurance their stuff will not die as we dissect reefs for whichever reason. the action set was the same in each post, the reasons presented differs.


*we also show a subset of big threads where people start with clean sand, power clean like we do above, and then keep it clean stick stirring like this: this could be your ticket here:

 

[brandon429]

" MY WHITE SAND METHOD "

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/lasses-dream-build.246188/ and here is my automatic sand stir method for display tanks. Note this sand has not been cleaned, no detritus remove anywhere and in the backside - it is a 25 cm thick sand bed. Been redone once - no cleaning whatever. No cleaning...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[Spare time]

I think caribsea

You might like the special grade reef sand. I that is pretty popular. Ocean direct is another one that is a nice mix though mine does get kicked up by my giant diamond goby.

 

[Spare time]

PS If you are ever worried about hydrogen sulfide in the sand bed, you can dose trace element like iron. Sulfer is down the list when it comes to what those bacteria prefer to use and things like iron are further up.

 

[Murica]

PS If you are ever worried about hydrogen sulfide in the sand bed, you can dose trace element like iron. Sulfer is down the list when it comes to what those bacteria prefer to use and things like iron are further up.

Okay thanks for the info, I never knew that