Adding sand

Hi all When i look at all the full setup reefs I see the the sand is about 2" above the border around 4" in total do I really need that much I have a 20 gal sump/refu with 5.5" DSB, and if it would be good for me to add more sand Which one is the best for allready setup tank. I dont look for any amonia spikes if you know what I mean
What would be the best way to do it

 

Does the 5.5 inches of sand cover the whole 20 gallon sump? You probably are fine I'd think for lowering nitrates then in a 75 gallon tank.

There may be some critters or fish that would benefit from more sand in the tank, but it may not be necessary.

 

1/2 of the 20 gal has sand some LR and lots of calurepa as well as I have some lifgt there now
I notice all kinds of critters there

 

You might be alright. If you have a nitrates problem you should consider adding a few inches in the tank.

 

Hey,
We just added another 20# of live sand to our tank yesterday.
Our start-up live sand (from Tampa Bay Saltwater) had quite large particle sizes, resembling crushed coral rather than any sand we've ever seen.
So, to help lower our nitrates (and to deepen the floor of our little reef for our wonderful pods and stuff), we put in true sand. Adding the sand was easy, and the Carib-Sea product we bought was very clean (ie very little debris), so the tank only clouded for a few hours.
Today, water chemistry is unchanged, and all seems well in the tank. Also, the hermits and cleaner shrimp seem to enjoy the smaller partilce size.

 

dont you think that you can get amonia spike from the Live Sand because some things may be dead in the sand?

 

Yeah, it's possible.
However, it's going into a tank with 150# LR and 75# of live sand, and another 30# live sand in the refugium. I talked to the LFS about this at length, as I had the same concerns as you did. They said they've never had any problems with this product.
In retrospect, there is some salt water in the bag with the sand. It would be interesting to test it for ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates.
We'll be checking water chemistry daily, so I'll let you know if anything goes askew.

 

cool keep me updated