Sand with massive flow or...

[Dj City]

I will be starting a 180gal build soon. The tank is 5ft long x 24in wide x 30in deep.
I'm not 100% sold on bare bottom.
I prefer thre look of sand but I want a lot of flow for SPS.
I have...
Jeabo 15000 for return pump
Jeabo 10000 for manifold
4 Neptune Wav pumps,
1 Tunze Stream 3
2 gyre pumps.

Can I even use sand with all that flow?
Which sand could I use if any?

 

[Dj City]

I want to achieve a FULL cycle.

Without sand, I have
About 100lbs of Aquamaxx Eco Rock (in display)
4L Seachem Pond Matrix (in sump)
8 Maxspect Nano-Tech Bio Blocks (in sump)

I hope that's enough for the full cycle. I can always add more.

Will adding about 120bs of sand help at all? I don't want a deep sand bed. 120lbs in this tank will be about an inch or so of sand.
I want a ton of flow but don't want a sandstorm or bare spots.

 

[Albertan22]

I’m not sure what you mean about a full cycle. Adding more rock and sand will help with how much bioload your tank can handle but the tank will fully cycle either way.

Also, that’s an insane amount of flow for a 5 foot tank imo. That said, I’m just getting into SPS again so don’t take my word as gospel.

 

[kles]

Yes its possible iv got close to 16000 gph in my 125 tank and I have sand no issues just have to place your powerheads n returns to prevent the sand from getting blown around to much .

 

[Dj City]

I’m not sure what you mean about a full cycle. Adding more rock and sand will help with how much bioload your tank can handle but the tank will fully cycle either way.

Also, that’s an insane amount of flow for a 5 foot tank imo. That said, I’m just getting into SPS again so don’t take my word as gospel.

Full cycle is...
Ammonia to nitrite
Nitrite to nitrate
Nitrate to nitrogen gas

Most people think the tank is cycled after nitrites go away since nitrate is fish and coral safe at low levels.
This is only 3/4th of the cycle done.
Nitrate to nitrogen gas is the complete nitrogen cycle.
The bio media I will have in my sump "should" provide enough internal surface area for anaerobic bacteria to grow and convert nitrate to nitrogen gas. At least that's the idea.

 

[Albertan22]

Full cycle is...
Ammonia to nitrite
Nitrite to nitrate
Nitrate to nitrogen gas

Most people think the tank is cycled after nitrites go away since nitrate is fish and coral safe at low levels.
This is only 3/4th done.
Nitrate to nitrogen gas is the complete nitrogen cycle.
The bio media I will have in my sump "should" provide enough internal surface area for anaerobic bacteria to grow and convert nitrate to nitrogen gas. At least that's the idea.

Ah I understand. An inch of sand won’t contribute to anaerobic nitrate cycling. You’d need a deep sand bed which you’ve stated you don’t want. Your rock and bio media may help with that. I use chaeto and water changes to manage my nitrates but I understand what you’re trying to do now.

 

[Dj City]

Ah I understand. An inch of sand won’t contribute to anaerobic nitrate cycling. You’d need a deep sand bed which you’ve stated you don’t want. Your rock and bio media may help with that. I use chaeto and water changes to manage my nitrates but I understand what you’re trying to do now.

Thanks.
I don't expect thre shallow sandbed to help with nitrates at all.
I just like the look of a clean sand in a reef tank.
I'm trying to find out if a shallow sandbed can withstand the amount of flow I'm planning for this tank.

All 4 Wav's will be on the back glass along with the Stream 3.
The gyres will be on the sides of the tank up as high as possible.

 

[Dj City]

If I go with sand, how does Tropic Eden compare to CaribSea?

Here are the Tropic Eden Grain Sizes Available:
Aragasnow - 0.5mm
Tonga Special Pink - 0.8mm
Miniflakes - 2.0mm
Mesoflakes - 2.7mm
Reefflakes - 3.0mm
Reefflakes Grand Select - 4.5mm

 

[Phildago]

Personally I don't think I'd ever use sand again. My flow isn't even crazy and I had to get rid of my sand because fish were constantly stirring it up and causing certain corals to get covered or at the very least irritated. I still have some sand because it's too much of a pain to get it all out, and it's still annoying but not as bad as it was.

If you really want sand, maybe look into artificial options like using a casting resin mixed with some sand to create a nice look. I'd imagine it would take some work, but might could be a route thats worth looking into

 

[Dj City]

Bump

 

[Dj City]

Bump

Anyone with knowledge or experience please come in.

 

[Gareth elliott]

If your goal is to anaerobic denitrification i would look into a remote deep sand bed. All the benefits none of the issues.

that said as a tank ages the cycle will breakdown as your corals and coraline use more N the bacteria go dormant. I will use my planted tank as an example its almost 10 years old i dont have nitrate because my plants use all the ammonia before it ever becomes nitrate, so i have to add some.
So not sure long term fostering of no2 producing bacteria is needed?

 

[Dj City]

If your goal is to anaerobic denitrification i would look into a remote deep sand bed. All the benefits none of the issues.

Thank you.
I am hoping the 8 maxspect bioblocks and 4L of Seachem MatrixI will have in the sump is enough to get the anaerobic bacteria I need for denitrification.

I want massive flow in the tank for SPS and detritus suspension but I am not sold on the bare bottom look. I like the look of a clean sandbed. I like the added benefits of more surface area and beneficial critters in a shallow(ish) sandbed.
I'm trying to have both if It's possible.

 

[Cory]

You can paint the bottom of your tank white to mimic sand. (The underside not the inside)

 

[Samina]

How do you feel about a faux sand bottom? Basically gluing/epoxy sand to starboard or the like. I would imagine that eventually it would be covered in coralline though.

 

[Dj City]

You can paint the bottom of your tank white to mimic sand. (The underside not the inside)

I considered that.
Only issue with that is after a short time, coraline algae will cover the bottom.
Also, no extra surface area for critters.

 

[Dj City]

How do you feel about a faux sand bottom? Basically gluing/epoxy sand to starboard or the like. I would imagine that eventually it would be covered in coralline though.

Yeah.
I considered that too but the coraline algae would eventually take over.

 

[Samina]

I have used Tropic Eden before and I believe it was a mix of ReefFlakes and Grand Select. I had a good bit of flow in that tank, but nothing close to what your aiming for. It was pretty good and wouldn’t cause sandstorms. But I would end up with dunes here and there.

What about crushed coral?

 

[Dj City]

I have used Tropic Eden before and I believe it was a mix of ReefFlakes and Grand Select. I had a good bit of flow in that tank, but nothing close to what your aiming for. It was pretty good and wouldn’t cause sandstorms. But I would end up with dunes here and there.

What about crushed coral?

I think if I go with sand, I would probably go with reef select and/or reef flakes.
How much of a visual difference is there between the reef select and reef flakes? Is reef select too large a grain size to use by itself? Why mix the two?
Crushed coral traps too much detritus for me.

 

[Samina]

They both blended in with each other pretty nicely. The Grand Select grains were definitely bigger but it looked good in my opinion. Honestly, it kind of looked similar in size comparison to crushed coral (not the chunky type). I mixed the two just because I felt like the larger grains would be tough for sand sifting gobies, snails and hermits due to the bumpiness but that’s just how I felt, lol. Not to say that it would be though!