is 2.5" enough?

Aragamax Select is advertised to be the finest sand there is and can be used for de-nitrification as little as 1 inch of sand bed.

Now, I have about 2.5 inches of aragamax select in my fuge and 1.5-2 inches in my MT. I was wondering if my fuge have enough sand for de-nitrification or should I add another bag of 30lbs to make it about 5".

Thanks!
GKW

 

if you are using a oolitic sand in your fuge, i would say you have enough to allow for denitrification and anaerobic bacteria to do their thing. if it were a larger grain, i would recommend at least 3 inches for effectiveness. hth.

 

Thanks for the reply, Jonathan!

I should be ok then, I do have the oolitic sand in my MT and my fuge.

Thanks again!

 

take what i said with a grain of salt though, i am by no means an expert. wait to recieve more input from others before you decide what to do...just my two cents. hth.

 

anyone else has any input???

 

i have 3 1/2 inch of that same sand in the main tank in a 20 gallon and it does its job so i guess it would be ok!

 

I have heard that if you do not have 5-6 inches, you might as well not have any at all. It takes the deeper depth to get the anoxic environment required for denitirification. I belive I read this in the "Book of Coral Propogation" as well, but I would not swear to that..and I am on the road for work so I can't go look it up for you...I know that I have 2 inches of sand in my system, and I operate based on the assumption that it is there for looks only, and that I need to do regular water changes to keep nitrates in check. For what it is worth