live sand question

Discussion in 'New To The Hobby' started by dowtish, Jan 30, 2011.

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  1. dowtish

    dowtish Horrid Stonefish

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    i just setup an 80 gallon reef tank.I bought 4 20 lb. bags of live sand but I only used 60 lbs., and felt like it was enough. I now am wondering if I should have used that last bag. Are there advantages or disadvantages for having too much or too little?

    Thanks
     
    dowtish, Jan 30, 2011
    dowtish, Jan 30, 2011
    #1

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  2. Brennan

    Brennan Gigas Clam

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    how deep is your sand bed? Some species of fish and inverts require a deeper sand bed and also it improves biological filtration but its not necessary. As long as its aesthetically pleasing to you then its fine, if it was me I would use the last bag but its your choice
     
    Brennan, Jan 30, 2011
    Brennan, Jan 30, 2011
    #2
  3. dowtish

    dowtish Horrid Stonefish

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    The thing that made me not add the last bag was that I came from the old school, when having anything on the bottom of the tank was a bad thing. All biological filtration came from the rock and a freakin bio-wheel. It's been over 15 years since I last had a reef tank. So anyways, it is at least an inch and a quarter thick. And yes, the whole reason I brought this up is the biological part. I have 50 lbs. of base rock and about 10 lbs. of new fresh LR. So I'm thinking I need to add it, and then now the question is how?, since it's setup already.
     
    dowtish, Jan 30, 2011
    dowtish, Jan 30, 2011
    #3
  4. steve wright

    steve wright Super Moderator

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    How deep is it now?

    anything over 1 inch is fine you can even go shallower if you wanted
    but for fish like wrasse and inch deep so they can burrow to sleep is good IME

    If you do need to add more

    1 method is put the sand in a small bag, lower it to the sand bed and then gently tip it out

    another method
    1 inch PVC pipe and a funnel - pour the sand into the funnel, down the tube and direct it where you want it - slowly

    Steve
     
    steve wright, Jan 30, 2011
    steve wright, Jan 30, 2011
    #4
  5. dowtish

    dowtish Horrid Stonefish

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    thanks Steve
     
    dowtish, Jan 31, 2011
    dowtish, Jan 31, 2011
    #5
  6. Don_v

    Don_v Fire Worm

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    +1 on the 1" PVC and funnel.... I just did this with about 2ft long pvc and set it all the way down till resting on the sand on the bottom of the tank then filled it up till it reached the top of the tube then slowly lifted the tube up about an inch and moved it around and the sand slowly poured out with NO clouding, then repeat. when you pull the pvc completely out of the water though, the dust in the water that was in the tube will come out unless you cover the end of the tube with your hand or something before you pull it out. I didn't do this and thats the only part that actually clouded the water, but it was minimal and clear again within an hour.(if your even worried about clouding)
     
    Don_v, Jan 31, 2011
    Don_v, Jan 31, 2011
    #6