Starting 150 sand or no sand ?

[AllFin-ished]

Hello I'm looking to start my 150g tank here soon and I'm wondering if I should just throw in my rock from my 20g and add sand later or put both the sand and rock in and buy more sand? Suggestions on how much sand I should get and if I can just buy dead sand and use the 30lbs of live sand i have in my 20g to seed it all?

 

[mrbluewildcats]

Roughly 150# of sand will get you a 2" sandbed in a 150. You can definitely mix your sand with new sand, I would put your old sand on top. Much, if not most, of your bacteria will be in your rock. Just make sure to rinse the new dry sand really well before adding it.

 

[brandon429]

well said. how are you going to manage the bed so it doesnt become a massive waste trap

are you going to design ways/access so you can directly clean it over time

 

[X-37B]

No sand! Bare bottom for easy nutrient control in my 120.
Your bottom can look like this.
Your choice though. Good luck with the new 150.

 

[brandon429]

that is indeed ideal. if everyone did that the 30 page sand rinse/how to take care of aging sand thread would die out from lack of need.

If sandbeds placed on the bottom of a tank and left alone years worked well for everyone with no intervention required, that too would kill out the thread lol

 

[AllFin-ished]

I havent really thought to much on how to clean it. In the past i use to just vacume the alge off the top on my 90 gallon and it wasnt ever a issue but I never had a reef tank is their something more that would need to be done to the sand and how often?

 

[brandon429]

nobody can tell you the course it will chart if you have a sandbed. some are compliant, and some are trouble at the midlife stage and never become compliant. The single most important factor for you to decide with is not stack the rocks heavy in a wall, use few live rock areas so you can lift out and clean/access as it ages. direct cleaning and siphoning is a decent way to care for them, as they age.


the #1 excuse we see for not being able to access clean a system is that there's too many rocks, or corals have locked the rocks into place and they wont remove them. design the aquascape as accessible right from the start, then.

 

[mrbluewildcats]

I used to vacuum the top of my sand, but now I don't ever do anything to it. I do have a lot of snails and a tiger conch, was thinking about adding another or a fighting conch. Mixture of snails, nassarius, cerith, nerite, trochus, turbo, even periwinkle but seems like those spend most of their time out of the water. I haven't done anything to sandbed in months and they keep it very clean.

 

[YankeeTankee]

Do you like the look of sand? BB is a little easier, you just need to weigh your desire for sand. Some people like brandon vacuum while others just use CUC that stir the sand. Some have issues some dont.

 

[mrbluewildcats]

It really is a matter of personal preference, IMO. Some wrasses need to bury in sand overnight, but you can have a BB tank with a tray of sand for that. I have a watchman goby and pistol shrimp and I love watching them hang out with the shrimp pushing sand out from beneath the rock all the time while the goby stands guard.

Just depends on what you like.

 

[brandon429]

that is a fine approach. the deal-sealer is to have some type of way to control the whole bed if anything shifts or stops. Pro sandbed folks always thing Im against beds, it turns out Im actually against unwilling to access when required to save your tank lol. i myself run a six in deep sandbed. if it looks at me sideways it'll get cleaned into compliance.

 

[glb]

I like the look of sand, and there are plenty of cuc’s that will keep it clean for you.

 

[SeaSickness]

As already stated, its a matter of what look you prefer. I have both a sand bed an BB which have been running well for a few years. The key is regular routine maintenance.

 

[Phycodurus]

welcome to R2R!

you can certainly take the existing rock from you 20g set-up and add sand later. or put both the sand & rock in and buy more sand later, however it's my understanding that the beneficial bacteria is only in the first 1/4" to 1/2" depth, so it's probably better to add new sand gradually in "thin" quantities so you don't smother the bacteria.

you can always keep the sand depth shallow for overall easier maintenance. it's very subjective and up to personal taste, but also consider sand bed-loving fish & inverts that will thrive better with sand being present.

additional sand can be dead, but live sand helps replenish the beneficial bacteria too IMHO.

 

[AllFin-ished]

Awsome all perfect advice I'll take into consideration I do like the look of sand better but would probly have gone without sand if not for the kids and wife pushing for sand. Also another question not sure if it's silly or not but still want to ask if anyone has ever tryed using sand from a new England beach for your tank? If rinsed well and dryed and rinsed would that be a issue or a good way to save 100$ on sand?

 

[brandon429]

If you demonstrably rinsed it cloudless 100% and it caused problems I'd be shocked. Sounds good do try it. I claim you'll import nice variation of beach bacteria even if you rinse it, since cleaning chemicals are required to actually sterilize things. Highest chance is it works fine but you might find caribsea pre rinsed to simply be easier to manage. I bet the free stuff is hard to clear rinse.

 

[AllFin-ished]

Awsome I mean of course buying would be what my plan was but I was just wondering if anyone else has tryed it off their local ocean beach and had success thanks for the input for sure

 

[AllFin-ished]

On a side note I've been doing alot of research on diy overflows without drilling dose anyone have any suggestions on that and or flow rate I should be aiming for?

 

[Bob Weigant]

Really it’s just which look do you like better. I have sand in 3 of my tanks. 2 of the tanks have sand just where my rocks are and that’s more for my wrasses